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Abstract-
Thin sheets or films of liquid have been analyzed in the past not only because
of their intriguing beauty but also because of their technical relevance
to an ever growing number of technological applications.
Documented experimental observations of thin films reach back as far as
Leonardo da Vinci who observed the thinning of water into a film using a
reed pulling out of soapy water. Today, liquid films are vital elements
to some of the newest technological
innovations such as inertial fusion reactors,
small scale toxic waste incinerators, radiators for space applications
and actively controlled liquid fuel combustors.
This talk will focus on the modeling of modulated discharging liquid films with relevance to the active control of liquid fuel injection processes. Considered are inviscid, incompressible, two-dimensional planar and annular, as well as three-dimensional annular and conical films under a variety of operational conditions and with or without surrounding gas flow. Lubrication theory is employed to provide an efficient solution of the film distortion and disintegration process. Upstream and downstream liquid-phase boundary conditions are specified consistent with information propagation based on linear group-velocity theory. For non-zero ambient gas densities, the employed thin film model is combined with a Boundary-Element analysis of the surrounding incompressible, inviscid gas flow. Combined effects of surface tension, liquid viscosity, intermolecular forces and fluid inertia on film topology and film rupture resulting from continuous film stretching (or retraction) are investigated for a two-dimensional liquid bridge.
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