Influence of Ambient Airflow on Free Surface Deformation and Flow Pattern Inside Liquid Bridge With Large Prandtl Number Fluid (Pr > 100) Under Gravity

Abstract

The influence of airflow shear on the free surface deformation and the flow structure for large Prandtl number fluid (Pr = 111.67) has been analyzed numerically as the parallel airflow shear is induced into the surrounding of liquid bridge from the lower disk or the upper disk. Contrasted with former studies, an improved level set method is adopted to track any tiny deformation of free surface, where the area compensation is carried out to compensate the nonconservation of mass. Present results indicate that the airflow shear can excite flow cells in the isothermal liquid bridge. The airflow shear induced from the upper disk impulses the convex region of free interface as the airflow shear intensity is increased, which may exceed the breaking limit of liquid bridge. The free surface is transformed from the “S”-shape into the “M”-shape as the airflow shear is induced from the lower disk. For the nonisothermal liquid bridge, the flow cell is dominated by the thermocapillary convection at the hot corner if the airflow shear comes from the hot disk, and another reversed flow cell near the cold disk appears. While the shape of free surface depends on the competition between the thermocapillary force and the shear force when the airflow is induced from the cold disk.