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Full-Text Articles in Physics
A Mean Curvature Model For Capillary Flows In Asymmetric Containers And Conduits, Yongkang Chen, Noël Tavan, Mark M. Weislogel
A Mean Curvature Model For Capillary Flows In Asymmetric Containers And Conduits, Yongkang Chen, Noël Tavan, Mark M. Weislogel
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Capillarity-driven flows resulting from critical geometric wetting criterion are observed to yield significant shifts of the bulk fluid from one side of the container to the other during "zero gravity" experiments. For wetting fluids, such bulk shift flows consist of advancing and receding menisci sometimes separated by secondary capillary flows such as rivulet-like flows along gaps. Here we study the mean curvature of an advancing meniscus in hopes of approximating a critical boundary condition for fluid dynamics solutions. It is found that the bulk shift flows behave as if the bulk menisci are either “connected” or "disconnected." For the connected …
Gravity Effects On Capillary Flows In Sharp Corners, Enrique Ramé, Mark M. Weislogel
Gravity Effects On Capillary Flows In Sharp Corners, Enrique Ramé, Mark M. Weislogel
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
We analyze the effect of gravity on capillary flows in sharp corners. We consider gravity perpendicular and parallel to the channel axis. We analyze both steady and unsteady flows. In the steady analysis the main result is a closed form expression for the flow rate as a function of the two gravity components. Good agreement with steady experiments is offered as support of the model. The unsteady analysis is restricted to “small” values of the two gravity parameters and is accomplished using a similarity formulation. The similarity coefficients of the gravity corrections are fully determined by the coefficients of the …
A Better Nondimensionalization Scheme For Slender Laminar Flows: The Laplacian Operator Scaling Method, Mark M. Weislogel, Yongkang Chen, D. Bolleddula
A Better Nondimensionalization Scheme For Slender Laminar Flows: The Laplacian Operator Scaling Method, Mark M. Weislogel, Yongkang Chen, D. Bolleddula
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
A scaling of the two-dimensional Laplacian operator is demonstrated for certain solutions (at least) to Poisson’s equation. It succeeds by treating the operator as a single geometric scale entity. The belated and rather subtle method provides an efficient assessment of the geometrical dependence of the problem and is preferred when practicable to the hydraulic diameter or term-by-term scaling for slender fully developed laminar flows. The improved accuracy further reduces the reliance of problems on widely varying numerical data or cumbersome theoretical forms and improves the prospects of exact or approximate theoretical analysis. Simple example problems are briefly described that demonstrate …
Capillary Flow In Interior Corners: The Infinite Column, Mark M. Weislogel
Capillary Flow In Interior Corners: The Infinite Column, Mark M. Weislogel
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Capillary flow of a sinusoidally perturbed liquid column in an interior corner of infinite extent is solved using lubrication theory. Due primarily to the length scales selected to nondimensionalize the momentum equation, an analytic time scale governing the settling of the perturbation is determined. The time scale, which is shown to be independent of a steady base state flow, proves useful in rapidly predicting transients for surface settling in certain liquid-bearing tanks of spacecraft employing interior corners for fluids management purposes. The asymptotic analysis is extended to address flows along interior corners whose faces are slightly nonplanar. The generalized formulation …
Capillary Surfaces In An Exotic Container: Results From Space Experiments, Paul Concus, Robert Finn, Mark M. Weislogel
Capillary Surfaces In An Exotic Container: Results From Space Experiments, Paul Concus, Robert Finn, Mark M. Weislogel
Mechanical and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations
Experimental results from the Interface Configuration Experiment (ICE) performed aboard the Space Shuttle and the Mir Space Station are reported. The experiment concerns fluid interfaces in certain ‘exotic’ containers in a low-gravity environment. These containers are rotationally symmetric and have the property that for given contact angle and liquid volume, a continuum of distinct rotationally symmetric equilibrium configurations can appear, all of which have the same mechanical energy. These symmetric equilibrium configurations are unstable, in that deformations that are not rotationally symmetric can be shown mathematically to yield configurations with lower energy. It is found experimentally, in confirmation of mathematical …