Study on the coalesce behaviors of dual droplets adhering to inclined surfaces under airflow conditions

Abstract

In order to investigate the coalesce behaviors of double liquid droplets adhering to an inclined surface, this study employed the CLSVOF (Coupled Level Set and Volume of Fluid) method to establish a three-dimensional model of droplet motion in an air flow environment. The effects of different parameters such as droplet size, air flow velocity, and dimensionless distance between droplets on the coalesce characteristics of the droplets were studied in this paper. Through numerical simulation of the coalesce process of double liquid droplets in an air flow environment, the coalesced process, the behavior characteristics of the droplets before coalescence, and the fitting relationship between coalesce time and the dimensionless number Re were explored. The results indicate that an increase in droplet size leads to an increase in the inertial force of the droplet sliding along the surface. With an increase in air flow velocity, the speed of droplets during sliding will increase, resulting in a continuous reduction in coalesce time. When the dimensionless distance between droplets increases, the initial movement of the droplets is delayed, and the parameter fluctuations between upstream and downstream droplets stabilize in the later. As the Reynolds number increases, the coalesce time of the droplets continuously decreases.