Finite element modeling of evaporation and condensation during sol-gel film and fiber formation
Free surfaces, multicomponent phase change, volume expansion and compression, and surface tension gradients make for challenging application of the finite element method to sol-gel (ceramic) film and fiber formation. The microstructure of the final product is largely controlled by the competition between the drying, curing, and underlying fluid mechanics of formation. Sol-gel materials are peculiar because they often contain more than one solvent, each solvent differing in volatility and surface tension. Hence, nonuniform evaporation can produce surface tension gradients that dramatically change the meniscus shape. These processes are complicated further by a volume change that accompanies evaporation and condensation, making for shock-like discontinuities in concentration and velocity at the free surface. Computer-aided predictions of film formation by dip coating and of fiber spinning (see Figure 1) are made for alcohol-water mixtures with one non-volatile species. The Navier-Stokes system is augmented with two convective-diffusion equations to track the concentration of alcohol and water, and an energy equation to monitor temperature changes. The equations are solved in both phases by discretizing them first with the Galerkin/finite element method. The resulting non-linear algebraic equation set is solved with Newton`s method. The subdomaining technique is based on elliptic grid generation and is designed to parameterize the moving meniscus. Special treatment of the functional representations of velocity and concentration within the elements lining the free surface are made to accommodate the volume change that accompanies mass exchange between phases.
- Research Organization:
- Sandia National Labs., Albuquerque, NM (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC04-76DP00789
- OSTI ID:
- 10172058
- Report Number(s):
- SAND--92-2701C; CONF-9309156--1; ON: DE93017655
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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