NUMERICAL SIMULATION OF ELECTROSTATIC ATOMIZATION IN SPINDLE MODE

The behavior of a liquid jet in an electrostatic field is numerically simulated. The simulations performed correspond to a transient liquid jet leaving a capillary tube maintained at a high electric potential. The surface profile of the deforming jet is defined using the VOF scheme and the advection of the liquid free surface is performed using Youngs' algorithm. Surface tension force is treated as a body force acting on the free surface using continuum surface force (CSF) method. To calculate the effect of the electric field on the shape of the free surface, the electrostatic potential is solved first. Next, the surface density of the electric charge and the electric field intensity are computed, and then the electric force is calculated. Liquid is assumed to be a perfect conductor, thus the electric force only acts on the liquid free surface and is treated similar to surface tension using the CSF method. To verify the simulation results, a simplified case of electrowetting phenomenon is simulated and free surface shape in stable state is compared with experimental results. Then the electrostatic atomization in spindle mode is simulated and the ability of the developed code to simulate this process is demonstrated.