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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
11:38
Combining Microfluidics and Microrheology to Determine Rheological Properties of Soft Matter during Repeated Phase Transitions
Published on: April 19, 2018
Hydrodynamical pathways in the phase change of real fluids
Mirko Gallo1, Filippo Occhioni1, Riccardo Daniele1
1Dipartimento di Ingegneria Meccanica e Aerospaziale, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy.
Communications Physics
|July 3, 2026
Summary
This study reveals that liquid-vapor transformation involves hydrodynamics and inertia, not just thermodynamics. The new framework predicts boiling points for various fluids, enabling better control over phase change processes.
Area of Science:
- * Physics
- * Fluid Dynamics
- * Thermodynamics
Background:
- * Understanding the early stages of liquid-vapor transformation (nucleation) is challenging due to its elusive nature.
- * Identifying factors like bubble formation, spatiotemporal scales, and inertia is crucial for phase change research.
Purpose of the Study:
- * To develop a theoretical framework for computing nucleation pathways in metastable liquids.
- * To identify optimal trajectories and the spatiotemporal structure of the nucleation process.
- * To investigate the influence of hydrodynamic phenomena on phase change kinetics.
Main Methods:
- * Combining large deviation theory, multiphase fluctuating hydrodynamics, and real fluid thermodynamics.
- * Computing most probable nucleation pathways and identifying optimal trajectories.
- * Determining the full spatiotemporal structure of nucleation.
Main Results:
- * Nucleation is influenced by both thermodynamic forces and hydrodynamic phenomena (wave propagation, inertial effects).
- * The developed framework successfully predicts boiling thresholds for water, nitrogen, and helium, aligning with experimental data.
- * A unified description of phase-change kinetics is provided, linking microscopic fluctuations to macroscopic observables.
Conclusions:
- * The study provides a novel theoretical approach to understanding and predicting phase change phenomena.
- * The findings highlight the significant role of hydrodynamics and inertia in nucleation processes.
- * This research opens new avenues for the prediction and control of phase change in various applications.
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