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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/S59444/01
Title: An Investigation of the Wetting Behaviour of Evaporating Drops
Principal Investigator: Sefiane, Professor K
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Department: Sch of Engineering
Organisation: University of Edinburgh
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 01 February 2004 Ends: 31 January 2007 Value (£): 97,040
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Fluid Dynamics Heat & Mass Transfer
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Manufacturing Chemicals
Food and Drink Pharmaceuticals and Biotechnology
Energy
Related Grants:
GR/S59451/01
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
It is proposed to conduct a combined experimental and theoretical investigation of the wetting behaviour of an evaporating drop, a fundamental prototype problem for a huge range of physical situations in which wetting plays an important role. The proposal brings together for the first time the proposers' expertise in the experimental investigation of heat- and mass-transfer problems involving a free surface and in the mathematical modelling and analysis of non-isothermal thin-film flows. The main aim of the experimental investigation to be undertaken in Edinburgh is to identify and quantify the key features of evaporative drop spreading, while that of the closely linked theoretical investigation to be undertaken in Strathclyde is to construct and analyse appropriate mathematical models that will elucidate, explain and quantify the underlying physical mechanisms at work. Particular attention will be paid to understanding the compositional effects that typically occur in binary fluids made up of one more-volatile and one less-volatile component, and thermocapillary and/or surfactant effects due to the presence of non-uniform surface tension resulting from non-uniform distributions of temperature and/or surfactants on the free surface of a drop. This is a genuinely collaborative project throughout which the experimental work will be informed by the ongoing theoretical analysis and vice versa, and is an example of the connectivity between Mathematics and Engineering that EPSRC is currently seeking to encourage.
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Organisation Website: http://www.ed.ac.uk