Self-propulsion of small droplets on thin liquid films

In this thesis, we investigate the self-propulsion of small droplets below the capillary length on thin liquid films. At film temperatures above the boiling point of the droplet and lower film viscosities, we observe that droplets can propel at velocities up to 16cm/s. We predict the droplet velocities using a model that scales thin oil film viscous friction to the momentum of the vapor ejected from beneath the boiling droplet.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Mechanical Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2019

Author dc:creator

• Leon, Victor Julio.

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Kripa K. Varanasi.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• MIT theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed, downloaded, or printed from this source but further reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/123745

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/123745