An energy-conservative many-body dissipative particle dynamics model for thermocapillary drop motion

Abstract

The thermocapillary motion of a drop on a solid substrate is a common phenomenon in daily life and many industrial fields. The motion can be significantly affected by the temperature gradient of the substrate and the properties of the liquid, such as surface tension, viscosity, thermal coefficient, density, and diffusivity. In this study, a numerical model based on modified many-body dissipative particle dynamics was developed to capture correctly the temperature dependence of a fluid. The momentum, thermal diffusivity, viscosity, and surface tension of liquid water at various temperatures ranging from 273 to 373 K were used as examples to verify the proposed model. The results calculated with this model for heat conduction in a liquid–solid system are in good agreement with those calculated with Fourier's law. The approach successfully modeled the thermocapillary motion of a liquid water droplet on a hydrophobic substrate with a temperature gradient. The migration of the droplet on a flat solid substrate was induced by the difference in surface tension due to the temperature gradient. The migration velocity increased with the temperature difference, which is in agreement with the present theoretical analysis and dynamic van der Waals theory. The modified numerical model proposed in this work could be used to study heat and mass transfer across a free interface, such as Marangoni convection in multiphase fluid flow.