Atomization and Sprays Journal of the International Institutes for Liquid Atomization and Spray Systems

ISSN for PRINT: 1045-5110

For Online Access

Best Paper Award Selection - Editorial Board Site

2001, Volume11

Issue 4

186 pages

Issue price - $75.00

B. A. Strayer
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, California, USA

Derek Dunn-Rankin
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA

In many spray systems, determination of an appropriate drop size can be critical in maximizing system performance. Despite knowing the desired droplet size a priori, however, feedback control of this quantity is rarely achieved in practice. In order to move toward feedback control of droplet size, this article presents an experimental and analytical study of the breakup of a round liquid jet into a droplet stream, with particular attention to describing the breakup dynamics using a framework suitable for classic control. The control systems framework includes a linear system model of the piezoelectric actuator that disturbs the jet and a transfer function that propagates that disturbance along the jet until pinch-off. Experiments validate the actuator dynamics model and the transfer function, which together provide the foundation for a feedback-control block diagram of the entire system.

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