Behavior of moving droplet on inclined containment wall: Experiment and model validation

Understanding the behavior of moving droplet on inclined containment wall is significant to evaluate condensation heat and mass transfer, aerosol wash-down by condensate flow, etc. The models describing moving droplet, such as the onset of motion, the droplet velocity and the flow pattern transition criterion from droplet to rivulet are presented. Concerning the droplet velocity model, the flow field inside droplet and the dynamic contact angle model are considered to evaluate the viscous force and surface tension force respectively acting on fast moving droplet. A new experiment of water droplets moving on inclined surface coated with decontamination paint, DRISE, is performed with the Re number range 56<1700. The model for the onset of the droplet motion matches the DRISE data very well. At high Re number, the new developed droplet velocity model on the tilted surface and the criterion of the transition from droplet to rivulet are well validated with the data from the DRISE experiment and the experiment from open literature.

Automated summary

Understanding the behavior of moving droplets on inclined containment walls is crucial for evaluating condensation heat and mass transfer, aerosol wash-down by condensate flow, etc. Models describing droplet motion have been presented, and new experiments have been conducted to validate the models at different Reynolds numbers. The developed droplet velocity model and transition criterion from droplet to rivulet have been well validated at high Reynolds numbers.