67th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 23, 2014 — November 25, 2014)

P0034: The many faces of a Leidenfrost droplet

Authors
  • Xiaolei Ma, Department of Physics, Emory University
  • Juan-José Liétor-Santos, Department of Physics, Emory University
  • Justin Burton, Department of Physics, Emory University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2014.GFM.P0034

The joy of watching Leidenfrost droplets can be experienced by anyone with a hot frying pan in their kitchen. Upon placement on a very hot surface, a water drop will spontaneously levitate on a cushion of its own evaporated vapor. In this Leidenfrost state, the drop is free to undergo vibrations driven by pressure variations under the droplet. Our research looks at the self-organized, star-shaped oscillations that are easily observed in large Leidenfrost droplets, which acts as a convenient model system to study the nonlinear, parametric coupling of mechanical vibrations in many natural systems. 

Physics of Fluids summary

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