Acceleration of sessile droplet evaporation by wind

A sessile droplet on a solid surface is sensitive to wind near the surface. We experimentally observe the influence of wind on the sessile droplet evaporation dynamics and derive a physical model to explain the acceleration of sessile droplet evaporation by wind quantitatively. The sessile droplet evaporation dynamics depend on the droplet geometry and the wind characteristics around the droplet. This study presents experimental data showing that an increase in wind velocity accelerates the evaporation rate of sessile droplets and emphasizes the importance of shear-flow winds near the droplet surface rather than freestream winds far from the droplet. Our observations show that the dimensionless sessile evaporation rate is proportional to the shear-flow wind velocity, supporting the physical model for the wind-accelerated sessile droplet evaporation dynamics.