Thermal effects on the lifetime of evaporating drops on fibers†

Abstract

We present an experimental study on the evaporation of drops on fibers. More specifically, we focus on the droplet lifetime both in quiescent air and in an air flow of constant velocity. We propose a model to describe the evaporation rate and lifetime in a purely diffusive regime, which includes the liquid cooling associated with evaporation and the thermal conductivity of the atmosphere and the fiber. Our model effectively captures the primary physical behaviors, demonstrating a semi-quantitative agreement with our measurements across various liquids and fiber materials. Finally, the model is generalized to a convective air flow, which also rationalizes our experimental data.