Because of its unique properties, graphene has attracted the attentions of many academic research groups and recently, the industry. One of the promising applications of the graphene is in micro/nano-sensors, e.g. using it as a pressure sensor. To use it in mechanical-based nano-sensors, it is very important to investigate the mechanical behavior of the nano-sized graphene sheet and its sensitivity to the medium changes applied on its faces. In this work, we use the molecular dynamics MD method and simulate the behavior of graphene sheet under differential water pressure influences. In this regard, a square straight monolayer graphene sheet is placed as a separator diaphragm between two different water boxes having different pressure/density magnitudes. The graphene atoms located on four sides around the graphene sheet are fixed during the simulations. At first, the two water boxes are in the same condition, i.e., they are a copy of each other. Next, the density of one of the water boxes is changed abruptly to impose the desired pressure difference. We also investigate the mass transfer through the imposed graphene sheet and its impact on the achieved graphene sheet behavior in this study. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the graphene behavior in this manner. Indeed, one objective of this work is to find the sensitivity of nanoscale graphene sheet to low and high pressure/density differences by investigating its deflections.

In the past decades, the Lattice Boltzmann method has gained much success in variety fields especially in multiphase flow, porous media flow, and other complex flow, and become a promising method for computational fluid dynamic (CFD). The outlet boundary condition (OBC) and its numerical scheme are critical issues in CFD, which may influence the accuracy and stability of the calculation. The common OBCs i.e. Neumann boundary condition (NBC), extrapolation boundary condition (EBC), and convection boundary condition (CBC), which have been widely investigated in single-phase LB model, have rarely been investigated in multiphase LB model. The previous research on the OBCs for two-phase LB model only aims at small density ratio. While in most industrial applications, the density ratio often ranges from a hundred to a thousand, and a large density ratio would bring some problems such as parasitic current and bad stability in LB method. Lee and Fischer have proposed an improved LB model which is suitable for large density ratio two-phase flow. In order to assess the OBCs for large density ratio LB model, the OBCs are investigated. And it is found that the existing OBC numerical scheme cannot be directly applied to the large density ratio LB model. In present study, a novel numerical scheme for the OBCs is proposed assuming that the outlet velocity is gained by the outlet boundary condition instead of the momentum equation which is an improvement of previous scheme, and it can be used in large density ratio LB model. The performance of the proposed OBC scheme is examined for different density ratios. The results show that the proposed OBC scheme could converge in a stable manner. Comparing with the reference flow condition, the CBC scheme shows a better performance than the NBC scheme and the EBC scheme. The NBC scheme would lead a large droplet deformation, large velocity peaks at the outlet, and large errors for both small and large density ratio. And the EBC scheme keeps a good droplet shape, but it would lead large velocity peaks at the outlet and large error when large density ratio is considered. The CBC scheme always shows superior performance including a good droplet shape, smooth outlet velocity profile, and small errors no matter whether the density ratio is small or large. Hence the CBC scheme could be applied in large density ratio LB model for the outlet boundary condition, which has a good accuracy and stability in the calculation.

In this work, we numerically study the effects of turbulence intensity at the fuel and oxidizer stream inlets on the soot aerosol nano-particles formation in a kerosene fuel-based combustor. In this regard, we study the turbulence intensity effects specifically on the thermal performance and nano-particulate soot aerosol emissions. To construct our computer model, we simulate the soot formation and oxidation using the Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons PAHs-inception and the hydroxyl concept, respectively. Additionally, the soot nucleation process is described using the phenyl route, in which the soot inception is described based on the formations of two-ringed and three-ringed aromatics from acetylene, benzene, and phenyl radical. We use the two-equation soot model in which the soot mass fraction and the soot number density transport equations are solved considering the evolutionary process of soot nanoparticles, where all the nucleation, coagulation, surface growth, and oxidation phenomena are suitable considered in calculations. For the combustion modeling part, we benefit from the flamelets library, i.e., a lookup table, considering a detailed chemical kinetic mechanism consisting of 121 species and 2613 elementary reactions and solve the transport equations for the mean mixture fraction and its variance. We take into account the turbulence-chemistry interaction using the presumed-shape probability density functions PDFs. We apply the two-equation high-Reynolds-number k -ε turbulence model with round-jet corrections and suitable wall functions in performing our turbulence modeling. Solving the transport equations of turbulence kinetic energy and its dissipation rate, the turbulence closure problem can be resolved suitably. Furthermore, we take into account the radiation heat transfer of soot and gases assuming optically-thin flame, in which the radiation heat transfer of the most important radiating species is determined locally through the emissions. To evaluate our numerical solutions, we first solve an available well-documented experimental test, which provides the details of a kerosene-fueled turbulent nonpremixed flame. Then, we compare the achieved flame structure, i.e., the distributions of mean mixture fraction, temperature, and soot volume fraction, with those measured in the experiment. Next, we change the turbulence intensities of the incoming fuel and oxidizer streams gradually. So, we become able to evaluate the effects of different turbulence intensities on the achieved temperature and soot aerosol concentrations. Our results show that using moderate turbulence intensities at both fuel and oxidizer stream inlets would effectively increase the maximum temperature inside the combustor and this would reduce the exhaust gases temperature. It also reduces the concentrations of soot in the combustor and its emission to the exhaust gases effectively.

Bubble departure frequency and active nucleation site density are two main factors that affect the nucleate boiling heat transfer. The potential enhancement of boiling heat transfer can be accomplished by surface modification. This treatment can be realized with changing parameters such as porosity, tilting angle and cavity radius. In this study, effects of different nanostructured Aluminum-Alloy (Al-Alloy) 2024 sheets on subcooled boiling heat transfer are investigated. A simple and environmentally friendly technique is used in order to produce these plates that are immersed into boiling deionized water for 20, 60 and 120 minutes. To examine boiling heat transfer characteristics, nanostructured plates are placed inside a rectangular channel. The channel is heated through four cartridge heaters connected to a DC power supply while deionized water is pumped inside using a micro gear pump at constant mass fluxes of 50 kg/m2s, 75 kg/m2s and 125 kg/m2s. It was found that an increase in nano-structure height leads to higher boiling heat transfer coefficients. Furthermore, a high speed camera system was used to investigate flow patterns in the microchannel. Visualization results indicated that bubbles movde faster the nano-structure height increased.

This paper presents the fluid flow in nanochannels with permeable walls using the molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. A three-dimensional Couette flow has been carried out to investigate the effect of the permeable surface on the fluid density distributions and the slip velocity. The ordering layer of molecules is constructed near the smooth surface but it was destroyed by the permeable ones resulting in the density drop in porous wall. The fluid density in porous wall is large under strong fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and it is decreased under weak FSI. The negative slip is observed for fluid flow past solid walls under strong FSI, no-slip under medium FSI and positive slip under weak FSI whatever it is smooth or porous. Moreover, the largest slip velocity and slip length occur on the smooth surface of solid wall. As predicted by Maxwell theory, the molecule is bounced back when it impinges on the smooth surface. The molecules, however, can reside in porous wall by replacing the molecules that are trapped in the pores. Moreover, the molecule can escape from the pore and enter the channel becoming a free molecule. After travelling for a period time in the channel, the molecule can enter the pore again. During the molecular movement, the momentum exchange has been implemented not only between fluid molecules and wall but also between the fluid molecules themselves in the pore, and the multi-collision between fluid molecules takes place. The reduced slip velocity at the porous wall results in the larger friction coefficient compared to the smooth surface wall. The molecular boundary condition predicted by Maxwell theory on the smooth surface is no longer valid for flow past the permeable surface, and a novel boundary condition should be introduced.

Transient heat transfer during constrained melting of graphite-based solid-liquid phase change nanofluids in a spherical capsule was investigated experimentally. Nanofluids filled with self-prepared graphite nanosheets (GNSs) were prepared at various loadings up to 1% by weight, using a straight-chain saturated fatty alcohol, i.e., 1-dodecanol (C 12 H 26 O), with a nominal melting point of 22 °C as the base fluid. In-house measured thermal properties were adopted for data reduction, including thermal conductivity, dynamic viscosity, latent heat of fusion, specific heat capacity and density. A proper experimental approach depended on volume expansion was figured out to monitor the melting process of nano-enhanced phase change fluid in a spherical capsule indirectly and qualitatively characterize the process. A variety of boundary temperatures were also adopted to vary the intensity of natural convection. It was shown that under low boundary temperatures, a monotonous melting acceleration came into being while increasing the loading due to the monotonously increased thermal conductivity of the nanofluids. While increasing the boundary temperature leads to more intensive natural convection that in turn slowed down melting under the influence of nanoparticles because the contribution by natural convection is significantly suppressed by the dramatically grown dynamic viscosity, e.g., more than 60-fold increase at the loading of 1 wt.%. The melting rate is determined by the competition between the enhanced heat conduction and deteriorated natural convection.

Particulate fouling at elevated temperature is a crucial issue for microchannel heat exchangers. In this work, a microfluidic system is designed to experimentally study on the deposition of micro-particles suspended in microchannels, which simulates the working fluid in microscale heat exchangers. We have directly measured the deposition rate of microparticles and found that the number density of deposited particles was monotonically increased with solution temperature when constant flow rate of samples was maintained. Moreover, our results show that pulsatile flow, which was generated by a piezoelectric unit, could mitigate the particulate fouling in microchannels, and the deposition rate was decreased with increasing the frequency of pulsation within a low frequency region. Our findings are expected to gain better understanding of thermally driven particulate fouling as well as provide useful information for design and fabrication of microchannel heat exchangers.

The manufacture method based on the silicon etching process is one of the most important methods to fabricate micro mechanical structure, e.g. micro-engine. In the processing, the high aspect ratio silicon etch process (HARSE process) is very important to improve the efficiency of structure. At the same time, the surface morphology should be controlled exactly to keep the performance of structure. In this paper, the feasibilities of controlling the surface morphology and Si etch rates were experimentally investigated. In the experiments, the width of structure changes from 15um to 1500um and the depth changes from 50um to 500um. The parameters of surface morphology including sidewall angle, surface roughness, and so on were measured and compared. The influence mechanisms of etching parameters were analyzed. The etching process were completed in a surface technology system (STS) multiplex advanced silicon etcher inductively coupled plasma (ICP) system with SF6/O2 plasma as etching plasma and C4F8 as passivation plasma. In the experiments, the etching experiments were conducted in a low pressure (5–50mTorr), high density, inductively coupled plasma etching reactor (ICP) with a planar coil. The Si etches rates and sidewall angle were investigated as a function of chamber pressure, cathode RF-power, and gas flow. The results indicated that the increasing of total etching time results in an acceleration in etch rate as well as the decrease in sidewall angle (the top width of trench is narrow than the bottom width). Meanwhile, the total passivation time has an opposite effect in the influence of etch rate and sidewall angle. All the experiments indicate that the quick shift between etch and passivation period leads to a smoother surface. An interesting phenomenon were discovered that the etch rate will not change with the changing of width parameter in most of the high aspect ratio silicon etch recipes when the width-depth ratio is upper than 0.34. An experiential function formula were fitted based on four parameters, including width and depth of the structure, and total etching and passivation time.

The three-dimensional forced convective heat transfer in a bi-porous metal foam heat sink is numerically investigated. Each of the metal foam layers has a distinct thickness, porosity, and pore density. The effects of these geometrical and morphological parameters on fluid flow and heat transfer are analyzed by employing the Forchheimer-Brinkman extended Darcy momentum equation and local thermal non-equilibrium energy equation. The numerical results show that the thermal resistance of the bi-porous metal foam heat sink is decreased with reduction in top layer metal foam porosity, as well as the bottom layer metal foam thickness, for a fixed bottom metal foam porosity of 0.9. The best thermal performance is achieved by employing a 30PPI metal foam at the bottom layer, and a 50PPI metal foam at the top layer. The optimal thickness of the bottom foam layer is about 1mm.

In the industrial fabrication processes of density-graded closed-cell metallic foams, it is of great importance to control the solidification immediately after foams are formed so as to obtain the final products with well distributed density-graded pores and less defects. This paper presented an analytical work aiming to predict the solidification front of density-graded metallic foam under constant temperature boundary condition. Numerical simulations based on ideal density-graded circular pores demonstrated good agreement with the analytical solutions. The 2D porous morphology of a real density-graded aluminum foam was further reconstructed with microCT, on the basis of which the propagation of solidification front inside this real density-graded foam was numerically investigated. An equivalent shape factor for this real foam was calculated to provide an insight for the influence of different pore shapes on solidification. Compared with other pores, the solidification speed of elliptical pores (a common pore shape in real foams) is moderate, i.e., slower than circular pores but quicker than triangular pores for same porosity.

As a new type of functional material, porous graphite foam exhibits unique thermal physical properties and geometric characteristics in heat transfer applications. It has the advantages of low density, high specific surface area, high porosity and high bulk thermal conductivity, which can be used as the core component of small, lightweight, compact and efficient heat sinks. Effective thermal conductivity serves one of the key thermophysical properties for foam-cored heat sinks. The complex three-dimensional topology and interstitial fluids significantly affect the heat conduction through such kind of porous structures, reflecting a topologically based effective thermal conductivity. This paper presents a novel geometric model for representing the microstructure of graphite foams, with simplifications and modifications made on the actual pore structure of graphite foam. For calculation simplicity, we convert the realized geometry consisting of complex surfaces and tortuous ligaments into a simplified geometry with circular ligaments joined at cuboid nodes, on the basis of the volume equivalency rule. The multiple-layer method is used to divide the proposed geometry into solvable areas and the series-parallel relations are used to derive the analytical model for effective thermal conductivity. To physically explore the heat conduction mechanisms at pore scale, direction numerical simulations were conducted on the reconstructed geometric model. Achieving good agreement with experimental data, the present analytical model (based on the simplified geometry) is validated. Further, the numerically simulated conductivities follow the model prediction, favoring thermally that the two geometries are equal. The present geometry model is more realized and capable of reflecting the internal microstructure of graphite foam, which will benefit the understandings for the thermo-physical mechanisms of pore-scaled heat conduction and micro structures of graphite foam.

Amongst various porous media, open-cell metallic foams exhibit distinctive properties: relatively low manufacturing cost, ultra-low density, moderate stiffness and strength, and high surface area-to-volume ratio. They have been, therefore, utilized in a variety of applications such as microelectronics cooling, fuel cells, and compact heat exchangers. For such applications, the knowledge of pressure drop of fluid flowing across the foam is often a key issue, enabling control of fluid flow, heat transfer enhancement, planning and designing chemical engineering processes, optimal flow analysis as well as practical designs. We present in this paper an analytical model capable of predicting the pressure drop of a Newtonian incompressible fluid flowing unidirectionally across isotropic and fully-saturated micro open-cell cellular foams within the Darcy and Forchheimer flow regimes. Analytical exploitations are conducted to determine the foam permeability and inertial coefficient. The analytical model is based on the basis of volume-averaging approach and the assumption of piece-wise plane Poiseuille flow with the modified cubic lattice with spherical node at the junction of struts. To better mimic the foam struts shape, a concave-triangular-shaped strut consisting of two nose-to-nose cones is considered and particular attentions have been paid to both analytically and numerically examine the node shape as well as struts shape effect. Built upon a generalized tortuosity model derived from the modified cubic unit cell, an analytical model of permeability on the basis of a cubic unit cell is developed, valid within a typical engineering range of porosity (ε = 0.86 ∼ 0.98) and pore size (0.254 mm ∼ 5.08 mm). With the effect of Reynolds number considered, the pore-scaled Reynolds number dependent drag coefficient expression is introduced and through this the inertial coefficient is analytically modeled on the basis of flow over bluff bodies, which is found to agree well with experimental data from various sources. The modeling procedure for pressure drop (permeability and inertial coefficient) is based on physical principles and geometrical considerations, and the model predictions agree satisfactorily with existing experimental data. Results show that by building the analytical model on the basis of a cubic unit cell to represent the topology of metallic foams, pressure drops as well as hydrodynamic conditions within both the Darcy and Forchheimer regimes in a Newtonian fluid can be analytically predicted.

Head-on collisions of binary micro-droplets are of great interest in both academic research and engineering applications. Numerical simulation of this problem is challenging due to complex interfacial changes and large density ratio between different fluids. In this work, the recently proposed lattice Boltzmann flux solver (LBFS) is applied to study this problem. The LBFS is a finite volume method for the direct update of macroscopic flow variables at cell centers. The fluxes of the LBFS are reconstructed at each cell interface through lattice moments of density distribution functions (DDFs). As compared with conventional multiphase lattice Boltzmann method, the LBFS can be easily applied to study complex multiphase flows with large density ratio. In addition, external forces can be implemented more conveniently and the tie-up between the time step and mesh spacing is also removed. Moreover, it can deal with complex boundary conditions directly as those do in the conventional Navier-Stokes solvers. At first, the reliability of the LBFS is validated by simulating a micro-droplet impacting on a dry surface at density ratio 832 (air to water). The obtained result agrees well with experimental measurement. After that, numerical simulations of head-on collisions of two micro droplets are carried out to examine different collisional behaviors in a wide range of Reynolds numbers and Weber numbers of 100 ≤ Re ≤ 2000 and 10 ≤ We ≤ 500. A phase diagram parameterized by these two control parameters is obtained to classify the outcomes of these collisions. It is shown that, at low Reynolds number ( Re =100), two droplets will be coalescent into a bigger one for all considered Weber numbers. With the increase of the Reynolds number, separation of the collision into multiple droplets appears and the critical Weber number for separation is decreased. When the Reynolds number is sufficiently high, the critical Weber number for separation is between 20 and 25.

Thermophotovoltaic (TPV) energy conversion enables millimeter scale power generation required for portable microelectronics, robotics, etc. In a TPV system, a heat source heats a selective emitter to incandescence, the radiation from which is incident on a low bandgap TPV cell. The selective emitter tailors the photonic density of states to produce spectrally confined selective emission of light matching the bandgap of the photovoltaic cell, enabling high heat-to-electricity conversion efficiency. The selective emitter requires: thermal stability at high-temperatures for long operational lifetimes, simple and relatively low-cost fabrication, as well as spectrally selective emission over a large uniform area. Generally, the selective emission can either originate from the natural material properties, such as in ytterbia or erbia emitters, or can be engineered through microstructuring. Our approach, the 2D photonic crystal fabricated in refractory metals, offers high spectral selectivity and high-temperature stability while being fabricated by standard semiconductor processes. In this work, we present a brief comparison of TPV system efficiencies using these different emitter technologies. We then focus on the design, fabrication, and characterization of our current 2D photonic crystal, which is a square lattice of cylindrical holes fabricated in a refractory metal substrate. The spectral performance and thermal stability of the fabricated photonic crystal thermal emitters are demonstrated and the efficiency gain of our model TPV system is characterized.

An ab initio molecular dynamics study of femtosecond laser processing of germanium is presented in this paper. The method based on the finite temperature density functional theory is adopted to probe the nanostructure change, thermal motion of the atoms, dynamic property of the velocity autocorrelation, and the vibrational density of states. Starting from a cubic system at room temperature (300 K ) containing 64 germanium atoms with an ordered arrangement of 1.132 nm in each dimension, the femtosecond laser processing is simulated by imposing the Nose Hoover thermostat to the electron subsystem lasting for ∼100 fs and continuing with microcanonical ensemble simulation of ∼200 fs . The simulation results show solid, liquid and gas phases of germanium under adjusted intensities of the femtosecond laser irradiation. We find the irradiated germanium distinguishes from the usual germanium crystal by analyzing their melting and dynamic properties.

While particles smaller than the thickness of the diffusion film have been known to enhance rates of interfacial mass transfer [1], a relatively new result is the discovery that nanoparticles in suspension show enhancements that far exceed the earlier reported enhancements, and without any apparent adsorptive or reactive effects[2]. Different mechanisms for the enhancements have been speculated upon, but there is a paucity of data on different nanoparticulate materials, collected in a systematic way on model contactors so that rational comparisons may be made. In this work, enhancement in Carbon dioxide absorption in water has been studied using SiO 2 and TiO 2 nanoparticles using the same capillary tube apparatus for which previous results of Fe 3 O 4 were reported. For 0.4% silica particles and 0.0118% TiO 2 nanoparticles, 165% and 155% enhancement was observed respectively. A phenomenological convective diffusion model has been proposed to explain the observed effects of particle size, holdup and material density. The model accounts for the overall effect of the Brownian (and any diffusiophoretic) motion of the nanoparticles on the surrounding fluid in terms of an ‘effective’ convective velocity, which is determined from the experimental data and correlated to the modified Sherwood Number proposed earlier [2], volume fraction of Nanoparticles and a solid Reynolds number R p . This model provides a good fit to the data from wetted wall column and capillary tube experiment for iron oxide from the previous literature, as well as for the data on silica and Titanium dioxide nanoparticles from this work, the average error being 8.3%.

It is well known that a phase transition from liquid to vapor occurs in the thermal boundary layer adjacent to a nanoparticle that has a high temperature upon irradiation with a high-power laser. In this study, the mechanism by which the evaporated layer adjacent to a laser-irradiated nanoparticle can grow as a bubble was investigated. The pressure of the evaporated liquid volume due to heat diffusion from the irradiated nanoparticle was estimated using a bubble nucleation model based on molecular interactions. The bubble wall motion was obtained using the Keller-Miksis equation. The density and temperature inside the bubble were obtained by solving the continuity and energy equations for the vapor inside the bubble. The evaporation of water molecules or condensation of water vapor at the vapor-liquid interface and the homogeneous nucleation of vapor were also considered. The calculated bubble radius -time curve for the bubble formed on the surface of a gold particle with a diameter of 9 nm is close to the experimental result. Our study reveals that an appropriate size of the evaporated liquid volume and a large expansion velocity are important parameters for the formation of a transient nano-sized bubble. The calculation result suggests that homogeneous condensation of vapor rather than condensation at the interface occurs.

Understanding how the nanoparticles influence flow behavior of nanofluids is important for revealing mechanism of heat transfer enhancement by using nanofluids. The aim of this work was to study the microscopic change in base fluid and micro-motion of nanoparticles due to Brownian motion by molecular dynamics simulation. The present work established shearing flow simulation models considering different shapes of nanoparticles. Velocity distribution and number density distribution of fluid, and angular velocity components and translational velocity components of nanoparticles were statistically analyzed. The results of velocity distribution and number density distribution showed that adding nanoparticles reduces flow boundary layer and causes uneven distribution of mass; and the results for angular velocity components and translational velocity components of nanoparticles showed that nanoparticles rotate fast in the fluid, and vibrate irregularly. The present study suggests that adding nanoparticles causes microscopic change for base fluid including reducing thickness of flow boundary layer and uneven density distribution in fluid. In addition, the micro-motions of nanoparticles including rotation and vibration due to Brownian motion strengthen micro-flow effect and momentum transfer in nanofluids. Furthermore, by comparing motion behaviors of nanoparticles in different shapes the present work reveals that shapes of nanoparticles influence deeply flow behavior of nanofluids.

Phase change microencapsules are the microsized particles made of phase change materials (paraffin wax ect.) sealed by the thin shell (polymer ect.) via the methods of microencapsulation. During last decade, due to the large amount of melting/solidifying heat, much attention have been paid on their application in environmental control, building, textiles and electronics ect. Also the novel thermal fluids by phase change microencapsules suspending in the traditional thermal fluids have shown their superior heat storage density and convective heat transfer performance, which can behave as heat storage media and heat transfer media simultaneously. However, the density difference between the phase change microencapsules and tranditional unitary fluid would lead to the unstable suspending states which seriously affect the heat storage and heat transfer performance. Binary mixtures such as alcohol-water etc have already played the important roles in the heat transfer equipments. In this paper, binary propanol-water mixtures of various proportion were formulated as the base fluids, and their stabilities were studied. The result shows that binary propanol-water mixtures with the desity of 941kg/m 3 showed the best stability and no stratification was found after standing for 48 hours. The morphology and diameter distribution of the microencapsule particles were tested by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and Malvern Nanosizer respectively, and the result show that the diameter of the particles is in the range of 10–80μm with the average value of 26.4μm. The phase change enthalpy and the effective heat capacity of phase change microencapsule suspensions with the concentration of 10–40wt% were measured by the differencial scanning calorimeter (DSC) and it was found the phase change enthalpy of the phase change microencapsule is 152.8J/g and the undercooling is only 7.3°C. The effect of concentration and temperature on the rheological behavior and viscosities of suspensions were experimentally studied by the TA DHR-G2 rheometer. The result shows that the suspensions behave as Newtonian fluids even when the concentration is as high as 40wt% and the viscosities fit well with Vand model. By the Hot Disk 2500S thermal constant analyzer (Sweden), the thermal conductivities of 0–40wt% suspensions were tested at 20–70°C and the variation was analyzed further. The concentration and expansion of MPCM particles during the phase change period were found to affect the thermal expansion coefficient of the MPCM suspensions obviously. The above experimental result and analyzation of stability and thermophysical properties will provide a complete and important data for the application in heat storage and heat transfer.

Flooding caused by excessive droplet feeding on heat dissipation area periodically occurs for droplet-based thermal management, including spray cooling and electro-wetting. The conventional highly wettable texture of surfaces, which is designed for thin film evaporation, has negligible effect on improving thermal performance during flooding. This work examines a combination of micro-pillar structures and engineered wettability that aims to improve the liquid-vapor phase change intensity and heat dissipation rate during flooding. Numerical simulation has been made to investigate the thermal and dynamic impact of the proposed combination structure on boiling and evaporation, with control variables of pillar height and pillar array density. A transient 3-D volume-of-fluid (VOF) model has been developed to analyze behaviors of bubble growth, coalescence, and departure processes. Parameters including volumetric liquid-vapor mass transfer rate, heat source temperature and heat transfer coefficient are examined. The results indicated the structured surface can reduce bubble sizes and enhance bubble departure rates. The optimized value of pillar height exists. The pillar height has more impact on cooling enhancement than pillar array density when the increased solid-liquid interface area was kept the same.