The Lifetimes of Evaporating Sessile Droplets of Water Can Be Strongly Influenced by Thermal Effects
Feargus G. H. Schofield,
David Pritchard,
Stephen K. Wilson,
Khellil Sefiane
Affiliations
Feargus G. H. Schofield
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1XH, Scotland, UK
David Pritchard
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1XH, Scotland, UK
Stephen K. Wilson
Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Strathclyde, 26 Richmond Street, Glasgow G1 1XH, Scotland, UK
Khellil Sefiane
Institute for Multiscale Thermofluids, School of Engineering, The University of Edinburgh, James Clerk Maxwell Building, Peter Guthrie Tait Road, The King’s Buildings, Edinburgh EH9 3FD, Scotland, UK
The effect of the thermal properties of the system on the lifetime of an evaporating sessile droplet of water is analysed using a fully coupled model which involves determining the temperature of the droplet, the substrate and the atmosphere. The evolutions, and hence the lifetimes, of droplets of water evaporating in both of the extreme modes are calculated. In particular, it is shown how the lifetimes of droplets of water can be strongly influenced by thermal effects. Droplets with larger initial contact angles or on less conductive substrates generally have longer lifetimes than those with smaller initial contact angles or on more conductive substrates, and the physical mechanism by which the thermal properties of the system influence the evaporation can be understood in terms of the thermal anchoring between the droplet and the lower surface of the substrate.
