CAREER: Advancing Knowledge of Atomization: Numerical Methods, Physics Extraction, and Reduced-Order Models

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Atomization is the process that breaks apart a coherent liquid structure into small droplets and occurs in many engineering devices including fuel injection, fire suppression, and painting systems. However, there is a current lack of knowledge on the physical processes that occur in an atomizing jet, which has impeded improvements to atomization systems. Simulations of atomization have the potential to provide this knowledge, but have not been impactful due to the massive datasets produced and the challenges of extracting useful information. This work will: 1) advance numerical methods allowing accurate simulations of more systems, 2) further the usefulness of simulations by extracting the physics of important processes, and 3) using new knowledge to developing physics-based models for use by engineers designing new atomization systems.Advancing knowledge of atomization will be achieved with three research objectives. The first will extend numerical method capabilities to predict the rupture of a liquid sheet using length and time scales based on physics and provide consistent and conservative transport of gas-liquid and fluid-solid interface. The second objective will make simulations results more useful by creating tools to extract atomization physics from massive datasets. The tools will compute statistics on the primary breakup instability and droplet ancestries that quantify how injected liquid breaks into small droplets. The third objective will develop physics-based reduced-order models using new knowledge on atomization. Additionally, an Atomizing Droplet Ancestry Database will be shared with other researchers developing atomization models. Overall, this work will provide a set of methods, tools, and knowledge that will allow engineers to build more precise atomizers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.