Time-series characteristics and geometric structures of drop-size distribution density in dropwise condensation

In this paper, we focused on a drop-size distribution density, which is one of the important components in the dropwise condensation theory. With an aim of quantitatively clarifying the characteristic of drop-size distribution density in reference to the existing models, the time-series characteristics and geometric structures of drop-size distribution densities in a set of processes of dropwise condensation (i.e. nucleation, growth, coalescence and departure) had been experimentally clarified by the developed image processing technique. In addition, applicability of existing models of the time-averaged drop-size distribution densities had been verified. Furthermore, the time-series fraction of surface coverage by drops, which is closely related to the drop-size distribution density, had been elucidated in terms of fractal geometry theory.