Automotive Engineering Commons^™

Study Of Near-Cup Droplet Breakup Of An Automative Electrostatic Rotary Bell (Esrb) Atomizer Using High-Speed Shadowgraph Imaging, Jacob E. Wilson, Stephen William Grib, Adnan Darwish Ahmad, Michael W. Renfro, Scott A. Adams, Ahmad Salaimeh

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Electrostatic Rotary bell (ESRB) atomizers are used as the dominant means of paint application by the automotive industry. They utilize the high rotational speed of a cup to induce primary atomization of a liquid along with shaping air to provide secondary atomization and transport. In order to better understand the fluid breakup mechanisms involved in this process, high-speed shadowgraph imaging was used to visualize the edge of a serrated rotary bell at speeds varying between 5000 and 12,000 RPM and with a water flow rate of 250 ccm. A multi-step image processing algorithm was developed to differentiate between ligaments and …