Spray characterization during vibration-induced drop atomization

Vibration-induced drop atomization is a process of rapid droplet ejection from a larger liquid drop. This occurs when a liquid drop resting on a thin diaphragm is vibrated under the appropriate forcing conditions using an attached piezoelectric actuator. The resulting spray of small droplets is characterized in this work using high-speed imaging and particle-tracking techniques. The results show that the average spatial and velocity distributions of the spray droplets are fairly axisymmetric during all stages of the atomization. The mean diameter of the droplets depends on the forcing frequency to the -2/3 power. The ejection velocity of the spray droplets depends on both the magnitude and the rate of change of the forcing amplitude. Thus, controlling the characteristics of the forcing signal may lead to strategies for controlling the spray process in specific applications. (C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.