Laser-induced breakdown and evaporation of single and multicomponent liquid droplets

Abstract

Single droplets studies involving breakup hydrodynamics and evaporation are important for optimizing many industrial applications. This dissertation focuses on studying the sequence of events involved in the laser-induced breakup of single and multi-component liquid droplets using time-resolved high-speed imaging techniques. Laser Induced Breakdown (LIB) is used to investigate the fundamental physics of fluid dynamics and fragmentation phenomenon of acoustically levitated single droplet of pure component liquids (water, ethanol, n-hexane, and iso-octane), and multicomponent liquids (diesel, Rapeseed Methyl Ester (RME), and their emulsions. This study represents a systematic attempt to analyze the sequence of events within a single droplet of fuel, encompassing bubble generation, growth, coalescence, rupture, droplet stretching, and eventual breakup.