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Chimney instability of rotating Leidenfrost drops

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 July 2025

Chen Ma Open the ORCID record for Chen Ma [Opens in a new window]  and
Cunjing Lv Open the ORCID record for Cunjing Lv [Opens in a new window]
Chen Ma
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Mechanics, AML, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, PR China Centre for Nano and Micro Mechanics, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, PR China
Cunjing Lv*
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Mechanics, AML, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, PR China Centre for Nano and Micro Mechanics, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, PR China
*
Corresponding author: Cunjing Lv, cunjinglv@tsinghua.edu.cn
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Abstract

The Leidenfrost effect occurs when drops are deposited on a highly superheated solid surface, creating a thin vapour film through rapid evaporation that levitates the drops. For drop with a radius exceeding a critical value, a vapour bubble forms and bursts from its bottom centre, a phenomenon known as chimney instability. Despite extensive investigation, the impact of Leidenfrost drop’s rotation on its chimney instability has remained unexplored. This study addresses this gap by providing both numerical and approximate solutions to the theoretical models. We identify two distinct regimes where either gravitational force or centrifugal force is the primary driver of chimney instability. These regimes are characterised by a non-dimensional rotation number, Ro, which represents the ratio between centrifugal force and gravitational force. Our findings reveal clear scaling laws that relate the critical geometrical parameters (radius, volume and height of the drop) for chimney instability to Ro, demonstrating that rotation can induce chimney instability in smaller drops. The scaling laws are elucidated through pressure perturbation analyses under a virtual perturbation to the drop profile at the critical state for chimney instability. Additionally, by varying the evaporation number $Ev$, we demonstrate that while increased superheat reduces the critical radius in the absence of rotation, the scaling laws related to Ro for a rotating drop remain unaffected. Building on these insights, we present a master curve in a simplified form that accurately predicts the critical state for chimney instability under various angular velocities, gravitational accelerations and superheat conditions.

JFM classification

Drops and Bubbles: Drops Phase change: Condensation/evaporation Phase change: Morphological instability

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Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 1015 , 25 July 2025 , A6
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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