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Description
Sweat evaporation is fundamental to human thermoregulation, yet our knowledge of the microscale sweat droplet evaporation dynamics is very limited. To study sweat droplet evaporation, a reliable way to measure sweat evaporation rate from skin and simultaneously image the droplet dynamics through midwave infrared thermography (MWIR) or optical coherence tomography

Sweat evaporation is fundamental to human thermoregulation, yet our knowledge of the microscale sweat droplet evaporation dynamics is very limited. To study sweat droplet evaporation, a reliable way to measure sweat evaporation rate from skin and simultaneously image the droplet dynamics through midwave infrared thermography (MWIR) or optical coherence tomography (OCT) is required. Ventilated capsule is a common device employed for measuring sweat evaporation rates in physiological studies. However, existing designs of ventilated capsules with cylindrical flow chambers create unrealistic flow conditions that include flow separation and swirling. To address this problem, this thesis introduces a ventilated capsule with rectangular sweat evaporation area preceded by a diffuser section with geometry based on wind tunnel design guidelines. To allow for OCT or MWIR imaging, a provision to install an acrylic or a sapphire window directly over the exposed skin surface being measured is incorporated in the design. In addition to the capsule, a simplified artificial sweating surface that can supply water in a filmwise, single or multiple droplet form was developed. The performance of the capsule is demonstrated using the artificial sweating surface along with example MWIR imaging.
ContributorsRamesh, Rajesh (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Kavouras, Stavros (Committee member) / Phelan, Patrick (Committee member) / Burke, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
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Description
Human exposure to extreme heat is becoming more prevalent due to increasing urbanization and changing climate. In many extreme heat conditions, thermal radiation (from solar to emitted by the surrounding) is a significant contributor to heating the body, among other modes of heat transfer. Therefore, accurately measuring radiative heat

Human exposure to extreme heat is becoming more prevalent due to increasing urbanization and changing climate. In many extreme heat conditions, thermal radiation (from solar to emitted by the surrounding) is a significant contributor to heating the body, among other modes of heat transfer. Therefore, accurately measuring radiative heat flux on a human body is becoming increasingly important for calculating human thermal comfort and heat safety in extreme conditions. Most often, radiant heat exchange between the human body and surroundings is quantified using mean radiant temperature, T_mrt. This value is commonly measured using globe or cylindrical radiometers. It is based on radiation absorbed by the surface of the radiometer, which can be calculated using a surface energy balance involving both convection and emitted radiation at steady state. This convection must be accounted for and is accomplished using a traditional heat transfer coefficient correlation with measured wind speed. However, the utilized correlations are based on wind tunnel measurements and do not account for any turbulence present in the air. The latter can even double the heat transfer coefficient, so not accounting for it can introduce major errors in T_mrt. This Thesis focuses on the development, and testing of a cost-effective heated cylinder to directly measure the convection heat transfer coefficient in field conditions, which can be used for accounting convection in measuring T_mrt using a cylindrical radiometer. An Aluminum cylinder of similar dimensions as that of a cylindrical radiometer was heated using strip heaters, and the surface temperature readings were recorded to estimate the convection heat transfer coefficient, h. Various tests were conducted to test this concept. It was observed that heated cylinders take significantly less time to reach a steady state and respond to velocity change quicker than existing regular-sized globe thermometers. It was also shown that, for accurate estimation of h, it is required to measure the outer surface temperature than the center temperature. Furthermore, the value calculated matches well in range with classic correlations that include velocity, showing proof of concept.
ContributorsGuddanti, Sai Susmitha (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Vanos, Jennifer (Committee member) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Burke, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
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Description
Dehumidifiers are ubiquitous and essential household appliances in many parts of the world. They are used extensively in tropical and sub-tropical environments to lower humidity in living spaces, where high ambient humidity can lead to numerous negative health effects from mild physical discomfort to more serious conditions such as mold

Dehumidifiers are ubiquitous and essential household appliances in many parts of the world. They are used extensively in tropical and sub-tropical environments to lower humidity in living spaces, where high ambient humidity can lead to numerous negative health effects from mild physical discomfort to more serious conditions such as mold build up in structures and dangerous illnesses in humans. Most common dehumidifiers are based on conventional mechanical refrigeration cycles, where the effects of condensation heat transfer play a critical role in their effectiveness. In these devices, humid ambient air flows over a cold evaporator, which lowers the temperature of the humid ambient air below its dew point temperature and therefore decreases its water content by causing liquid water condensation on the evaporator surface. The rate at which humidity can be extracted from the ambient air is governed in part by how quickly the evaporator can shed the condensed droplets. Recent advances in soft, stretchable, thermally enhanced (through the addition of liquid metals) silicone tubing offer the potential to use these stretchable tubes in place of conventional copper pipe for applications such as dehumidification. Copper is a common material choice for dehumidifier evaporator tubing owing to its ubiquity and its high thermal conductivity, but it has several thermal downsides. Specifically, copper tubes remain static and typically rely on gravity alone to remove water droplets when they reach a sufficient mass. Additionally, copper’s naturally hydrophilic surface promotes film-wise condensation, which is substantially less effective than dropwise condensation. In contrast to copper, thermally enhanced soft stretchable tubes have naturally hydrophobic surfaces that promote the more effective dropwise condensation mode and a soft surface that offers higher nucleation density. However, soft surfaces also increase droplet pinning, which inhibits their departure. This work experimentally explores the effects of periodic axial stretching and retraction of soft tubing internally cooled with water on droplet condensation dynamics on its exterior surface. Results are discussed in terms of overall system thermal performance and real-time condensation imaging. An overall null result is discovered, and recommendations for future experiments are made.
Contributorsnordstog, thomas (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Devasenathipathy, Shankar (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
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Description
Dissimilar metal joints such as aluminum-steel joints are extensively used in automobile, naval and aerospace applications and these are subjected to corrosive environmental and mechanical loading resulting in eventual failure of the structural joints. In the case of aluminum alloys under aggressive environment, the damage accumulation is predominantly due to

Dissimilar metal joints such as aluminum-steel joints are extensively used in automobile, naval and aerospace applications and these are subjected to corrosive environmental and mechanical loading resulting in eventual failure of the structural joints. In the case of aluminum alloys under aggressive environment, the damage accumulation is predominantly due to corrosion and is accelerated in presence of other metals. During recent years several approaches have been employed to develop models to assess the metal removal rate in the case of galvanic corrosion. Some of these models are based on empirical methods such as regression analysis while others are based on quantification of the ongoing electrochemical processes. Here, a numerical model for solving the Nernst- Planck equation, which captures the electrochemical process, is implemented to predict the galvanic current distribution and, hence, the corrosion rate of a galvanic couple. An experimentally validated numerical model for an AE44 (Magnesium alloy) and mild steel galvanic couple, available in the literature, is extended to simulate the mechano- electrochemical process in order to study the effect of mechanical loading on the galvanic current density distribution and corrosion rate in AE44-mild steel galvanic couple through a multiphysics field coupling technique in COMSOL Multiphysics®. The model is capable of tracking moving boundariesy of the corroding constituent of the couple by employing Arbitrary Langrangian Eulerian (ALE) method.Results show that, when an anode is under a purely elastic deformation, there is no apparent effect of mechanical loading on the electrochemical galvanic process. However, when the applied tensile load is sufficient to cause a plastic deformation, the local galvanic corrosion activity at the vicinity of the interface is increased remarkably. The effect of other factors, such as electrode area ratios, electrical conductivity of the electrolyte and depth of the electrolyte, are studied. It is observed that the conductivity of the electrolyte significantly influences the surface profile of the anode, especially near the junction. Although variations in electrolyte depth for a given galvanic couple noticeably affect the overall corrosion, the change in the localized corrosion rate at the interface is minimal. Finally, we use the model to predict the current density distribution, rate of corrosion and depth profile of aluminum alloy 7075-stainless steel 316 galvanic joints, which are extensively used in maritime structures.
ContributorsMuthegowda, Nitin Chandra (Author) / Solanki, Kiran N (Thesis advisor) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Committee member) / Jiao, Yang (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
Contact angle goniometer is one of the most common tools in surfaces science. Since the introduction of this instrument by Fox and Zisman1 in 1950, dispensing the liquid using a syringe has generated pendant drops. However, using such approach at conditions significantly deviating from standard pressure and temperature would

Contact angle goniometer is one of the most common tools in surfaces science. Since the introduction of this instrument by Fox and Zisman1 in 1950, dispensing the liquid using a syringe has generated pendant drops. However, using such approach at conditions significantly deviating from standard pressure and temperature would require an elaborate and costly fluidic system. To this end, this thesis work introduces alternative design of a goniometer capable of contact angle measurement at wide pressure and temperature range. In this design, pendant droplets are not dispensed through a pipette but are generated through localized condensation on a tip of a preferentially cooled small metal wire encapsulated within a thick thermal insulator layer. This thesis work covers experimental study of the relation between the geometry of the condensation-based pendant drop generator geometry and subcooling, and growth rate of drops of representative high (water) and low (pentane) surface tension liquids. Several routes that the generated pendant drops can be used to measure static and dynamic contact angles of the two liquids on common substrates well as nanoengineered superhydrophobic and omniphobic surfaces are demonstrated.
ContributorsMohan, Ajay Roopesh (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
In nature, it is commonly observed that animals and birds perform movement-based thermoregulation activities to regulate their body temperatures. For example, flapping of elephant ears or plumage fluffing in birds. Taking inspiration from nature and to explore the possibilities of such heat transfer enhancements, augmentation of heat transfer rates induced

In nature, it is commonly observed that animals and birds perform movement-based thermoregulation activities to regulate their body temperatures. For example, flapping of elephant ears or plumage fluffing in birds. Taking inspiration from nature and to explore the possibilities of such heat transfer enhancements, augmentation of heat transfer rates induced by the vibration of solid and well as novel flexible pinned heatsinks were studied in this research project. Enhancement of natural convection has always been very important in improving the performance of the cooling mechanisms. In this research, flexible heatsinks were developed and they were characterized based on natural convection cooling with moderately vibrating conditions. The vibration of heated surfaces such as motor surfaces, condenser surfaces, robotic arms and exoskeletons led to the motivation of the development of heat sinks having flexible fins with an improved heat transfer capacity. The performance of an inflexible, solid copper pin fin heat sink was considered as the baseline, current industry standard for the thermal performance. It is expected to obtain maximum convective heat transfer at the resonance frequency of the flexible pin fins. Current experimental results with fixed input frequency and varying amplitudes indicate that the vibration provides a moderate improvement in convective heat transfer, however, the flexibility of fins had negligible effects.
ContributorsPrabhu, Saurabh (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Phelan, Patrick (Committee member) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Droplet-structure interactions play a pivotal role in many engineering applications as droplet-based solutions are evolving. This work explores the physical understanding of these interactions through systematic research leading to improvements in thermal management via dropwise condensation (DWC), and breathable protective wearables against chemical aerosols for better thermoregulation.

In DWC, the heat

Droplet-structure interactions play a pivotal role in many engineering applications as droplet-based solutions are evolving. This work explores the physical understanding of these interactions through systematic research leading to improvements in thermal management via dropwise condensation (DWC), and breathable protective wearables against chemical aerosols for better thermoregulation.

In DWC, the heat transfer rate can be further increased by increasing the nucleation and by optimally ‘refreshing’ the surface via droplet shedding. Softening of surfaces favor the former while having an adverse effect on the latter. This optimization problem is addressed by investigating how mechanical properties of a substrate impact relevant droplet-surface interactions and DWC heat transfer rate. The results obtained by combining droplet induced surface deformation with finite element model show that softening of the substrates below a shear modulus of 500 kPa results in a significant reduction in the condensation heat transfer rate.

On the other hand, interactions between droplet and polymer leading to polymer swelling can be used to develop breathable wearables for use in chemically harsh environments. Chemical aerosols are hazardous and conventional protective measures include impermeable barriers which limit the thermoregulation. To solve this, a solution is proposed consisting of a superabsorbent polymer developed to selectively absorb these chemicals and closing the pores in the fabric. Starting from understanding and modeling the droplet induced swelling in elastomers, the extent and topological characteristic of swelling is shown to depend on the relative comparison of the polymer and aerosol geometries. Then, this modeling is extended to a customized polymer, through a simplified characterization paradigm. In that, a new method is proposed to measure the swelling parameters of the polymer-solvent pair and develop a validated model for swelling. Through this study, it is shown that for this polymer, the concentration-dependent diffusion coefficient can be measured through gravimetry and Poroelastic Relaxation Indentation, simplifying the characterization effort. Finally, this model is used to design composite fabric. Specifically, using model results, the SAP geometry, base fabric design, method of composition is optimized, and the effectiveness of the composite fabric highlighted in moderate-to-high concentrations over short durations.
ContributorsPhadnis, Akshay (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Wang, Liping (Committee member) / Oswald, Jay (Committee member) / Burgin, Timothy (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Deformable heat exchangers could provide a multitude of previously untapped advantages ranging from adaptable performance via macroscale, dynamic shape change (akin to dilation/constriction seen in blood vessels) to enhanced heat transfer at thermal interfaces through microscale, surface deformations. So far, making deformable, ‘soft heat exchangers’ (SHXs) has been limited by

Deformable heat exchangers could provide a multitude of previously untapped advantages ranging from adaptable performance via macroscale, dynamic shape change (akin to dilation/constriction seen in blood vessels) to enhanced heat transfer at thermal interfaces through microscale, surface deformations. So far, making deformable, ‘soft heat exchangers’ (SHXs) has been limited by the low thermal conductivity of materials with suitable mechanical properties. The recent introduction of liquid-metal embedded elastomers by Bartlett et al1 has addressed this need. Specifically, by remaining soft and stretchable despite the addition of filler, these thermally conductive composites provide an ideal material for the new class of “soft thermal systems”, which is introduced in this work. Understanding such thermal systems will be a key element in enabling technology that require high levels of stretchability, such as thermoregulatory garments, soft electronics, wearable electronics, and high-powered robotics. Shape change inherent to SHX operation has the potential to violate many conventional assumptions used in HX design and thus requires the development of new theoretical approaches to predict performance. To create a basis for understanding these devices, this work highlights two sequential studies. First, the effects of transitioning to a surface deformable, SHX under steady state static conditions in the setting of a liquid cooling device for thermoregulation, electronics and robotics applications was explored. In this study, a thermomechanical model was built and validated to predict the thermal performance and a system wide analysis to optimize such devices was carried out. Second, from a more fundamental perspective, the effects of SHXs undergoing transient shape deformation during operation was explored. A phase shift phenomenon in cooling performance dependent on stretch rate, stretch extent and thermal diffusivity was discovered and explained. With the use of a time scale analysis, the extent of quasi-static assumption viability in modeling such systems was quantified and multiple shape modulation regime limits were defined. Finally, nuance considerations and future work of using liquid metal-silicone composites in SHXs were discussed.
ContributorsKotagama, Praveen (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Wang, Robert (Committee member) / Phelan, Patrick (Committee member) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
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Description
As experiencing hot months and thermal stresses is becoming more common, chemically protective fabrics must adapt and provide protections while reducing the heat stress to the body. These concerns affect first responders, warfighters, and workers regularly surrounded by hazardous chemical agents. While adapting traditional garments with cooling devices provides one

As experiencing hot months and thermal stresses is becoming more common, chemically protective fabrics must adapt and provide protections while reducing the heat stress to the body. These concerns affect first responders, warfighters, and workers regularly surrounded by hazardous chemical agents. While adapting traditional garments with cooling devices provides one route to mitigate this issue, these cooling methods add bulk, are time limited, and may not be applicable in locations without logistical support. Here I take inspiration from nature to guide the development of smart fabrics that have high breathability, but self-seal on exposure to target chemical(s), providing a better balance between cooling and protection.

Natural barrier materials were explored as a guide, focusing specifically on prickly pear cacti. These cacti have a natural waxy barrier that provides protection from dehydration and physically changes shape to modify surface wettability and water vapor transport. The results of this study provided a basis for a shape changing polymer to be used to respond directly to hazardous chemicals, swelling to contain the agent.

To create a stimuli responsive material, a novel superabsorbent polymer was synthesized, based on acrylamide chemistry. The polymer was tested for swelling properties in a wide range of organic liquids and found to highly swell in moderately polar organic liquids. To help predict swelling in untested liquids, the swelling of multiple test liquids were compared with their thermodynamic properties to observe trends. As the smart fabric needs to remain breathable to allow evaporative cooling, while retaining functionality when soaked with sweat, absorption of water, as well as that of an absorbing liquid in the presence of water were tested.

Micron sized particles of the developed polymer were deposited on a plastic mesh with pore size and open area similar to common clothing fabric to establish the proof of concept of using a breathable barrier to provide chemical protection. The polymer coated mesh showed minimal additional resistance to water vapor transport, relative to the mesh alone, but blocked more than 99% of a xylene aerosol from penetrating the barrier.
ContributorsManning, Kenneth (Author) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Thesis advisor) / Burgin, Timothy (Committee member) / Emady, Heather (Committee member) / Green, Matthew (Committee member) / Thomas, Marylaura (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
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Description
Spray flows are important in a myriad of practical applications including fuel injection, ink-jet printing, agricultural sprays, and industrial processes. Two-phase sprays find particular use for spot cooling applications with high heat fluxes as in casting processes and power electronics. Computability of sprays in a cost-effective manner provides a path

Spray flows are important in a myriad of practical applications including fuel injection, ink-jet printing, agricultural sprays, and industrial processes. Two-phase sprays find particular use for spot cooling applications with high heat fluxes as in casting processes and power electronics. Computability of sprays in a cost-effective manner provides a path to optimize the design of nozzles to tune the spray characteristics for the needs of a particular application. Significant research has so far been devoted to understand and characterize spray flows better, be it from a theoretical, experimental or computational standpoint. The current thesis discusses a methodology for modeling primary atomization using the Quadratic Formula which is derived from an integral formulation of the governing equations. The framework is then applied to different examples of flat-fan hydraulic sprays. For each case, the spray is first resolved as a continuous fluid using the volume of fluid method. Atomization criterion is then applied to the velocity flow-field to determine the sites for primary atomization. At each site, local diameters for particle injection is determined using the quadratic formula. The trajectory of injected particles are then monitored through a particle tracking algorithm. The results from the numerical analysis are compared with experimental data to validate the computational framework.
ContributorsBhardwaj, Angshuman (Author) / Lee, T.-W. (Thesis advisor) / Herrmann, Marcus (Committee member) / Rykaczewski, Konrad (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022