Evolution of condensate film during saturated vapor condensation on cylindrical tube in zero gravity
Abstract
We consider a thin film of liquid condensing on a cylindrical tube under the conditions when the force of gravity is negligible. Cylindrical shape of the film surface becomes unstable when the thickness of the film achieves a critical value. A nonlinear equation describing the evolution of the thickness of the condensate film has been solved numerically using finite-difference methods. At the initial stage of the process, the results of the numerical solution are shown to be in a good agreement with the results of the linear stability theory developed in our previous investigations. It is shown that after a certain period of time in the unstable regime, the cylindrical film transforms into a series of droplets connected by thin "necks" of the liquid. The main mass influx occurs in the "necks". Under the action of the capillary forces, the condensed liquid flows from the "necks" to the droplets.
- Publication:
-
APS Division of Fluid Dynamics Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- November 2003
- Bibcode:
- 2003APS..DFD.JK010C