Frequency Specificity of Liquid-Fountain Swinging with Mist Generation: Effects of Ultrasonic Irradiation Angle

Abstract

Atomization of liquid into the air attained through submerged ultrasound irradiation will involve the formation of liquid fountain, which exhibits a sequence of oscillating and/or intermittent characteristics/events: its vertical/axial growth and breakup; its lateral “compound swinging”; and its associated dynamics of mist formation and spreading. This study attempts to provide a mechanistic view of ultrasonic atomization (UsA) process in terms of the swinging periodicity of water fountain and to specifically examine the influence of ultrasonic irradiation (i.e., transducer installation) angle on the liquid-fountain oscillations with mist generated intermittently. Through high-speed visualization, it was qualitatively found that as the extent of tilt (from the vertical direction) in the irradiation angle was increased, the degree of occurrence of mist generation and the amount of identifiable mist being generated tended to decrease. This trend was associated with reductions in both the growth rate and breakup frequency of the fountain on the tilt. It was further found, through the analysis of time variation in the resulting angle of liquid-fountain inclination, that the swinging fountain fluctuated periodically in an asymmetric manner and its periodicity could be fairly predicted based on a proposed simple “pendulum” model. An optimum value of the transducer installation angle was observed and judged to be 2° from the viewpoint of effective mist generation as well as fluid dynamic stability of the UsA liquid fountain.

Keywords

• ultrasonic atomization
• liquid fountain/column/jet
• fountain inclination
• mist emergence
• transducer setting angle
• visual analysis