Online

Green, Adam Michael

Mechanical Engineering

2016

PhD

A series of experimental studies was performed to investigate two separate fluid impingement flow systems intended for removal of particles from a surface or deposition of particles onto a surface. One of these flow systems is generated using a nozzle that incorporates both tilted jets and suction to create what we call a "bounded vortex flow", consisting of an annular swirling jet and a wall-normal vortex with axial upflow into a suction outlet. The other flow system is generated by a combination of acoustic streaming and substrate heating from an ultrasonic source. The primary methods used in the study for flow field measurements included laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and particle-image velocimetry (PIV). Thermocouples are utilized for gathering temperature information from the ultrasonic induced flow. For the bounded vortex flow, different jet/suction flow rates and different nozzle-substrate separation distances were examined. In the acoustic-generated flow system, different acoustic intensities and transducer-substrate separation distances and different choices of substrate material were examined. Both flow systems achieve high levels of shear stress on the impingement surface via a combination of flow oriented toward and/or away from the surface and via formation of vortex structures near the impingement surface. In the bounded flow configuration, the vortex flow is oriented with axis normal to the impingement surface, whereas in the acoustic-generated flow a series of vortex rings form with axes parallel to the impingement surface. For both flow fields, conditions are observed with high impingement surface shear stress that are well suited to particle removal from the impingement surface. However, as the variables controlling the flows are varied, other conditions are observed in which the flow fields become unstable, leading to oscillatory flows that generally have much smaller shear stress values on the impingement surface. The rate of fluid mixing, as characterized by upward and downward flows normal to the impingement surface, is also generally decreased after these flow transitions have occurred, implying that the unstable flows will be less suited for both particle deposition on and particle removal from the impingement surface.