| The formation of drops at the surface of turbulent liquids, e.g., turbulent primary breakup, was studied due to the importance of this mechanism for a variety of natural and technological spray formation processes, e.g., white caps on water, water falls, white water rapids, bow waves of ships, and many types of commercial spray atomizers, among others. Pulsed shadowgraphy and holography were used to observe the properties of the liquid surface and the drops formed by turbulent primary breakup of liquid jets in still air. Measured properties included liquid surface velocities, conditions at the onset of ligament and drop formation, ligament and drop sizes, ligament and drop velocities, rates of drop formation and the lengths of the liquid jets. Phenomenological theories were used to help interpret and correlate the measurements. Present results show that the onset of ligament formation occurs once the kinetic energy of the turbulent eddies that form the ligaments exceeds the required surface tension energy of a ligament of comparable size. Subsequently, the onset of drop formation occurs once drops form at the tips of ligaments due to classical Rayleigh breakup. This same mechanism controls the subsequent variation of drop sizes due to turbulent primary breakup as a function of distance from the jet exit. Breakup of the entire liquid jet occurs in two ways: a turbulent mechanism where the drops formed by turbulent primary breakup became comparable to the size of the liquid jet itself, and an aerodynamic mechanism where large turbulent eddies place the liquid jet in cross flow. In addition, ligament and drop velocities were associated with mean and fluctuating velocities of the liquid, and rates of drop formation could be expressed by surface efficiency factors defined as the fraction of the maximum cross stream liquid mass flux. Liquid volume fraction measurements indicated a rather dilute spray structure in contrast to earlier speculations. Finally, the turbulence at the liquid surface during turbulent primary breakup was not suppressed by surface tension, as widely thought; instead, it was enhanced as a result of the reduced inertial resistance of ambient gas beyond the liquid surface. |
