Impact of water droplets on a flat, solid surface was studied using both experiments and numerical simulation. Liquid–solid contact angle was varied in experiments by adding traces of a surfactant to water. Impacting droplets were photographed and liquid–solid contact diameters and contact angles were measured from photographs. A numerical solution of the Navier–Stokes equation using a modified SOLA-VOF method was used to model droplet deformation. Measured values of dynamic contact angles were used as a boundary condition for the numerical model. Impacting droplets spread on the surface until liquid surface tension and viscosity overcame inertial forces, after which they recoiled off the surface. Adding a surfactant did not affect droplet shape during the initial stages of impact, but did increase maximum spread diameter and reduce recoil height. Comparison of computer generated images of impacting droplets with photographs showed that the numerical model modeled droplet shape evolution correctly. Accurate predictions were obtained for droplet contact diameter during spreading and at equilibrium. The model overpredicted droplet contact diameters during recoil. Assuming that dynamic surface tension of surfactant solutions is constant, equaling that of pure water, gave predicted droplet shapes that best agreed with experimental observations. When the contact angle was assumed constant in the model, equal to the measured equilibrium value, predictions were less accurate. A simple analytical model was developed to predict maximum droplet diameter after impact. Model predictions agreed well with experimental measurements reported in the literature. Capillary effects were shown to be negligible during droplet impact when We≫Re1/2.

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An experimental study was done on the effect of dissolving a surfactant in water sprays used to cool a hot surface. A copper surface was heated to an initial temperature of 240°C and then rapidly cooled using a spray of either pure water or an aqueous solution containing 100 ppm by weight of sodium dodecyl sulfate. The variation of surface temperature was measured during cooling, and spray impact was photographed. Addition of the surfactant was found to enhance nucleate boiling heat flux by up to 300 percent. The surface temperature required to initiate vapor bubble nucleation was reduced from 118°C to 103°C. These effects were attributed to the surfactant promoting bubble nucleation and foaming in spray droplets. Nucleate boiling heat transfer enhancement was observed at all liquid mass fluxes and droplet velocities in the range of our experiments. The surfactant slightly reduced transition boiling heat transfer, and also reduced the temperature at which spray droplets started to wet the surface. Changing the orientation of the surface with respect to gravity had no effect on heat transfer.

The effect of adding a surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate) to droplets boiling on a hot stainless steel surface was studied. Experiments were done using solutions containing 100 ppm and 1000 ppm by weight of surfactant and the results compared with those for droplets of pure water. Surface temperature was varied from 60 • C to 340 • C. Droplet impact and evaporation was photographed using both video and 35 mm cameras.Addition of the surfactant significantly reduced lifetimes of droplets in a state of evaporation or nucleate boiling. For surface temperatures below those required to initiate nucleate boiling, the principal effect of the surfactant was to reduce liquidsolid contact angle, increasing the surface area wetted by the drop. At higher surface temperatures, the surfactant promoted vapour bubble nucleation and foaming in the liquid, greatly enhancing heat transfer. Increasing surfactant concentration reduced the Leidenfrost temperature, above which droplets were levitated above the surface on a thin film of their own vapour. The surfactant had no effect on evaporation time of droplets in film boiling.

During the regeneration of tissues and organs, growth factors (GFs) play a vital role by affecting cell behavior. However, because of the low half-life time and quick degradation of GFs, their stimulations on cells are relatively short and discontinuous. In this study, a releasing scaffold platform, consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL) nanofibers and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-encapsulated gelatin particles, was developed to extend the influence of GFs on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and endothelial cells (ECs). The results showed that this kind of scaffold can direct the differentiation of MSCs to ECs and maintain the stability of the tubular structure, an indicator of the angiogenesis ability of ECs, for an extended period of time. Therefore, the results suggest the potential application of PCL/VEGF-encapsulated gelatin particles (PCL/VGPs) as a growth factor (GF)-releasing scaffold platform in vascular tissue engineering.