Topic
Liquid metal
About: Liquid metal is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 6947 publications have been published within this topic receiving 77785 citations. The topic is also known as: liquid alloy & liquid metal alloy.
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
More filters
TL;DR: In this article, the electrocapillary properties of a fluidic actuator composed of a liquid metal droplet that is submerged in electrolytic solution and attached to an elastic beam are examined.
Abstract: We examine the electrocapillary properties of a fluidic actuator composed of a liquid metal droplet that is submerged in electrolytic solution and attached to an elastic beam. The beam deflection is controlled by electrochemically driven changes in the surface energy of the droplet. The metal is a eutectic gallium-indium alloy that is liquid at room temperature and forms an nm-thin Ga2O3 skin when oxidized. The effective surface tension of the droplet changes dramatically with oxidation and reduction, which are reversibly controlled by applying low voltage to the electrolytic bath. Wetting the droplet to two copper pads allows for a controllable tensile force to be developed between the opposing surfaces. We demonstrate the ability to reliably control force by changing the applied oxidizing voltage. Actuator forces and droplet geometries are also examined by performing a computational fluid mechanics simulation using Surface Evolver. The theoretical predictions are in qualitative agreement with the experi...
30 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a special subgrid scale heat flux model for liquid metal flows is deduced together with a method of calculating the model coefficients, and the numerical results confirm Lawn's theory, giving reasonable heat flux correlation coefficients which depend only weakly on the problem marking parameters.
30 citations
TL;DR: A new fabrication process for the silicon nozzle chips has been developed enabling the production of smaller nozzle chips with higher surface quality and the performance and durability of the actuator has been improved by using stainless steel and a second pneumatic connection to control the sheath flow.
Abstract: We present a novel pneumatic actuation system for generation of liquid metal droplets according to the so-called StarJet method. In contrast to our previous work, the performance of the device has been significantly improved: the maximum droplet generation frequency in continuous mode has been increased to fmax = 11 kHz (formerly fmax = 4 kHz). In addition, the droplet diameter has been reduced to 60 μm. Therefore, a new fabrication process for the silicon nozzle chips has been developed enabling the production of smaller nozzle chips with higher surface quality. The size of the metal reservoir has been increased to hold up to 22 mL liquid metal and the performance and durability of the actuator has been improved by using stainless steel and a second pneumatic connection to control the sheath flow. Experimental results are presented regarding the characterization of the droplet generation, as well as printed metal structures.
30 citations
30 citations
TL;DR: Based on the thermosyphon effect of room temperature liquid metal, a technical strategy of harvesting low grade heat to generate electricity was proposed in this article, where an open circuit voltage of 2.62 V with an electrical output power of 110 mW was yielded when the heating power was 45.6 W. This method resolves the difficulty of installing an electric generator in confined space and significantly enlarges the area for converting heat to electricity.
Abstract: Based on thermosyphon effect of room temperature liquid metal, a technical strategy of harvesting low grade heat to generate electricity was proposed. A conceptual system was constructed and an open circuit voltage of 2.62 V with an electrical output power of 110 mW was yielded when the heating power was 45.6 W. This method resolves the difficulty of installing an electric generator in confined space and significantly enlarges the area for converting heat to electricity. Due to its simplicity, avoidance of moving parts, wide working temperature range, and self powering feature, this electric generation system is extremely reliable, completely silent, and flexible.
30 citations