Analysis of Three-Region Conduction-Controlled Rewetting of a Hot Surface by Variational Method

Abstract

This study analyzes conduction-controlled rewetting of a hot surface by employing the variational integral method. The physical model considers three distinct regions: a dry region ahead of a wet front, the sputtering region immediately behind the wet front, and a continuous film region further in the upstream direction. Three different models have been considered for the analysis. In all the cases, closed-form expressions have been obtained for the temperature distribution along the hot surface. The wet front velocity is found to depend on various parameters, namely, convective Biot number, boiling Biot number, sputtering length, and incipient boiling temperature. Compared to the convective Biot number, the boiling Biot number significantly affects the wet front velocity. It is found that neglecting the sputtering length reduces the wet front velocity. © 2016 Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.