Effect of the centrifugal acceleration on frosting characteristics on a vertical cold surface in a rotating centrifugal non-inertial system

Fan Gao, Mengjie Song*, Yu Zhang, Long Zhang, Xuan Zhang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The occurrence of frosting always has a negative impact, especially in space stations or other non-inertial systems. To fully understand the influence of variable force fields on frosting characteristics and thus to realize accurate prediction and control of the frosting process in a non-inertial system, a series of frosting experiments with different centrifugal forces acting on vertical cold surfaces were designed and carried out in a horizontal centrifugal non-inertial system. The results indicate that centrifugal force influences the frosting characteristics by altering the stress state of the frost surface and diminishing the water vapor concentration gradient. As the centrifugal acceleration increased from 0.05 m/s2 to 0.77 m/s2, the surface roughness of the frost layer gradually decreased, and the increment of the maximum frost layer thickness decreased from 28.04 % to 18.96 %, and the increment of the peak time-dependent frosting rate decreased from 374.71 % to 127.58 % as compared to 0 m/s2. In addition, as the centrifugal acceleration increased from 0 m/s2 to 0.77 m/s2, the reverse melting frequency and peak value decreased by 25.93 % and 27.14 %, respectively. This study is expected to contribute to the modeling of frosting in non-inertial systems and microgravity environments and the development of anti-defrosting technologies.

Original languageEnglish
Article number126929
JournalApplied Thermal Engineering
Volume275
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Sept 2025
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Centrifugal acceleration effect
  • Centrifugal non-inertial system
  • Frost layer thickness
  • Frosting characteristics
  • Reverse melting

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