Heat Transfer Engineering

ISSN: 0145-7632 (Print) 1521-0537 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/uhte20

Bubble Dynamics and Heat Transfer during Pool

and Flow Boiling

Vijay K. Dhir , Hari S. Abarajith & Ding Li

To cite this article: Vijay K. Dhir , Hari S. Abarajith & Ding Li (2007) Bubble Dynamics and
Heat Transfer during Pool and Flow Boiling, Heat Transfer Engineering, 28:7, 608-624, DOI:
10.1080/01457630701266421

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01457630701266421

Published online: 05 Oct 2011.

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 Heat Transfer Engineering, 28(7):608624, 2007
Copyright

C Taylor and Francis Group, LLC
ISSN: 0145-7632 print / 1521-0537 online
DOI: 10.1080/01457630701266421

Bubble Dynamics and Heat Transfer

during Pool and Flow Boiling

VIJAY K. DHIR, HARI S. ABARAJITH, and DING LI

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, University
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of California, Los Angeles, USA

A large number of studies of bubble growth rate and departure diameter have been reported in the literature. Because
of uncertainty in dening the shape of an evolving interface, empirical constants are invariably used to match the model
predictions with data. This is especially true when force balance is made on a vapor bubble to determine the departure
diameter. In this paper, the results of an alternate approach based on a complete numerical simulation of the process are
given. Single and multiple bubbles are considered for both pool and ow boiling. The simulations are based on the solution of
the conservation equations of mass, momentum, and energy for both phases. Interface shape is captured through a level set
function. A comparison of bubble shape during evolution, bubble diameter at departure, and bubble growth period is made
with data from well-controlled experiments. Among other variables, the effect of magnitude of gravity and contact angle is
explicitly investigated.

INTRODUCTION in a thin region around a portion of the bubble. Mikic et al. [1]
used a geometric factor to relate the shape of the bubble growing
Heat transfer enhancement is the process of improving the on a heated surface to a perfect sphere and, having accounted for
heat transfer rate from a heater surface for which boiling uids the thermal energy that is stored in the superheated liquid layer
involving vapor bubbles is identied as the best mechanism. The prior to bubble inception, obtained an analytical expression for
dynamics of vapor bubbles formed on a heated surface placed the bubble growth rate. Their expression for the bubble growth
in a pool of liquid or subjected to forced ow has been studied rate is given by
extensively in the past. Motivating factors for these studies in-
 1/2
dD t
clude the inuence of bubble dynamics on the wall heat transfer,
=2 t +1 t1/2 (1)
the partitioning of energy into vapor and liquid phases, and the dt t + tw

development of void prole during ow boiling. where

Bubble dynamics includes bubble growth, merger, and depar-  1/2  
ture processes. In the past, these subprocesses have been treated bv
Thfg D
D = (2)
disjointedly as models and correlations have been developed for l Tsat 12l Ja2
either one of them. In reality, there is a continuous feedback
  
among several subprocesses occurring simultaneously. bv
Thfg t
In pool boiling, one of the earliest models for growth of a sin- t = (3)
l Tsat 12l Ja2
gle bubble on a heated surface is that due to Mikic et al. [1]. Their
model relied on the approach developed by Plesset and Zwick Tw Tl cpl
T
[2] for the growth of a spherical bubble in a sea of superheated = , and Ja = l (4)

T v hfg
liquid. The bubble growth process on a heater surface, however,
is more complex because the bubble shape changes continuously In Eq. (1), tw , is the waiting time, and in Eq. (2), b is the
during the growth process, and superheated liquid is contained geometric parameter that has a value of 2/3 for a perfect sphere,
whereas Tl is the bulk liquid temperature in Eq. (4). The con-
Address correspondence to Prof. Vijay K. Dhir, Department of Mechanical tribution of the microlayer that forms between the vapor-liquid
and Aerospace Engineering, 420 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA 90034, interface and the heater surface is not included in the model of
USA. E-mail: vdhir@ucla.edu Mikic et al. [1].
608
 V. K. DHIR ET AL. 609

The diameter to which a bubble grows before departure is as

dictated by the balance between the forces that act on a bubble.  1/3    
Fritz [3] correlated the data for bubble departure diameter by Ja4 4l 2 1/2 4/3
Dd = c1 1+ 1+ (9)
balancing buoyancy, which acts to lift the bubble away from g 3Ja
the surface, with surface tension force, which tends to hold the Even after extensive research spanning more than half a cen-
bubble to the surface, so that tury, there is no generalized correlation for bubble diameter at
 departure. In principle, knowing the bubble growth rate and bub-

Dd = 0.02008 (5) ble diameter at departure allows for the growth period to be
g(l v ) calculated. However, considering the uncertainties that exist in
both, signicant variations can occur in the prediction of growth
where is the contact angle measured in degrees. Signicant de- rate from such an approach.
viations with respect to predictions from the above equation have For ow boiling, it is normally assumed that the bubble de-
been observed, especially at high pressures. A number of corre- taches if the combination of buoyancy and drag forces is able
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lations, such as those by Cole and Rohsenow [4] and Goreno to overcome the force due to surface tension. The drag force
et al. [5], exist here. Cole and Rohsenow [4] correlated the bubble not only includes the quasi-steady drag in the bulk liquid ow
diameter at departure at low pressures as direction but also the unsteady drag due to asymmetric growth
 of the bubble inclined in the direction of the liquid ow as well
4
Dd = 1.5 10 Ja5/4 for water (6) as the shear lift force. Detachment can occur either parallel to
g(l v ) or normal to the heater surface. Hence, any force balance has to
 include both components of all of the forces acting on the bub-

Dd = 4.65 104 Ja5/4 for other liquids (7) ble. If the normal direction detachment criterion is met before
g(l v ) the parallel detachment criterion is met, then the bubble lifts off
into the liquid directly above the nucleation site. If, however, the
where
parallel detachment criterion is met rst, which is most often the
l cpl Tsat case, the bubble slides along the heater surface before it can lift
Ja = (8) off into the bulk liquid.
v hfg
A number of investigators, such as Al-Hayes and Winterton
Goreno et al. [5], on the other hand, correlated bubble depar- [6] and Klausner et al. [7], have developed expressions for sur-
ture diameter at high heat uxes when inertia becomes important face tension force based on some assumed variation of contact

Figure 1 Macro- and microregions of the mathematical model for numerical simulation.

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 610
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Figure 2 Comparison of numerical simulations with experimental data: (a)
the effect of wall superheat, and (b) the effect of liquid subcooling (uid: water,
= 54 , g = 1.0 ge ).
Figure 3 Contribution of the various heat transfer mechanisms during sub-
cooled pool nucleate boiling.
heat transfer engineering
V. K. DHIR ET AL.
Figure 4 Comparison of bubble departure diameter and bubble growth time
for water and PF5060.
angle along the periphery of the bubble base. Klausner et al. [7]
also concluded that surface tension alone is not able to prevent
vapor bubble from departure. They argued that liquid drag on
the bubble due to asymmetrical bubble growth acting in the di-
rection opposite to liquid ow is important in holding the bubble
to its nucleation site prior to departure. Klausner et al. [8] have
also developed an expression for drag force on an asymmetrical
bubble due to ow of liquid over it.
It is generally accepted that in ow boiling, after a bubble de-
parts from the nucleation site, it slides along the heater surface
before lift off. This sliding motion of the bubble on the heater sur-
face greatly augments the heat transfer. Akiyama and Tachibana
[9] proposed that the augmentation of heat transfer by a sliding
bubble can be modeled as a rough surface heat transfer, with
bubble diameter as the characteristic length. Chang and Bankoff
[10] argued that the sliding motion of the bubble increases the
Figure 5 Variation of the dispersion constant (Ao ) with contact angle (uid:
water,
Tw = 8 K,
Tsub = 0 K, g = 1.0 ge ).
vol. 28 no. 7 2007
 V. K. DHIR ET AL. 611

microlayer evaporation and calculated the total heat transfer to

a bubble with a constant radius and step function lifetime.
It can be surmised from the above discussion that no mecha-
nistic model is available that considers both growth and depar-
ture processes simultaneously while including their interactions.
Very little is known about the vapor bubble merger process. A
complete numerical simulation of the process is considered to
be a promising alternative approach. This approach has been
used by Son et al. [11] to model the dynamics of a single bubble
on a heated surface. Their model is based on level set formula-
tion originally developed by Sussman et al. [12] for computing
incompressible two phase ow. A volume correction step to
the level set formulation was introduced by Chang et al. [13].
By solving an additional Hamiltonian-Jacobi equation to steady
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state, the mass was forced to be conserved. In the following, the

Figure 6 Variation of the normalized departure diameter and departure time model of Son et al. [11] and bubble dynamic results obtained by
with contact angle (uids: water and PF5060,
Tw = 8 K,
Tsub = 0 K, g = using this method and its experiments to pool and ow boiling
1.0 ge ).
are discussed.

NUMERICAL MODEL

In the model of Son et al. [11], the domain of interest was di-
vided into micro- and macro-regions, as shown in Figure 1. The
micro-region mainly encompasses the microlayer underneath
the bubble. Heat from the solid surface is conducted through
the microlayer that forms underneath the bubble and is utilized
for evaporation at the interface. Forces acting on the liquid in
the microlayer are due to viscous drag, interfacial tension, long-
range molecular interactions, and vapor recoil. Neglecting in-
ertia and convection terms in the momentum and energy equa-
tions, respectively, the radial thickness of the microlayer during
the evolution of the bubble is calculated. This approach for the
evaluation of the microlayer is similar to that used by Wayner
[14], Stephan and Hammer [15], and Lay and Dhir [16]. In their
formulation, Son and Dhir assumed a slip boundary condition

Figure 7 The variation of heat transfer rates with time for various contact
angles (a) from microlayer and (b) from macroregion (uid: water, p = 1.01 bar, Figure 8 Variation of Nusselt number with time for various bubble growth

Tw = 8 K,
Tsub = 0 K, g = 1.0 ge ). cycles (uid: water,
Tw = 6.2 K,
Tsub = 0.0 K, g = 1.0 ge , = 38 ).

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 612 V. K. DHIR ET AL.

for liquid velocity at the vapor-liquid interface. Straub [17] has

suggested that because of the thermocapillary and radial move-
ment of the liquid-vapor interface, a circulatory ow may exist
in the microlayer.
For the macro-region, complete conservation equations of
mass, momentum, and energy, both in the vapor and in the liq-
uid, were solved. The level set method was employed to obtain
the shape of the evolving interface. The shape of the interface
obtained from the solutions of the micro- and macro-regions was
matched at the outer edge of the microlayer. Also, it was required
that a tangent to the interface at that location should be yielded
macroscopic contact angle. The magnitude of the Hamakar con-
stant representing the long-range forces was, in turn, related to
the macroscopic contact angle. Thus, the effect of wettability of
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the surface was included in the model through the specication

of the value of the Hamakar constant.

POOL BOILING

Single Bubble

Liquid Subcooling and Wall Superheat

Figure 9 (a) Bubble departure diameter as a function of the gravity level; (b)
bubble growth time as a function of the gravity level.
Figure 2a shows the variation of bubble departure diameter
with wall superheat for boiling of saturated water at one atmo-
sphere pressure. The bubble departure diameter increases while
the bubble growth period decreases with wall superheat. Also
shown in Figure 2a are the experimental data of Qiu et al. [18].

Figure 10 Comparison of numerical and experimental bubble shapes during vertical merger [21] (uid: water,
Tw = 10 K,
Tsub = 0.0 K, g = 1.0 ge ,
= 38 ).

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 V. K. DHIR ET AL.
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Figure 11 Comparison of numerically predicted bubble growth with experimental data of Mukherjee and Dhir [22] for saturated water at earth normal gravity.
Figure 12 Comparison between experimental and numerical equivalent bub-
ble diameters in a two-bubble merger for saturated water at
Tw = 7 K, g = 1. ge.
heat transfer engineering
613
Good agreement between the experimental and numerically pre-
dicted bubble departure diameters is observed, though the bubble
growth time is slightly over predicted. Bubble diameter at de-
parture increases but the growth period decreases as the wall
superheat is increased. With the increase in wall superheat, the
rate of heat transfer into the vapor bubble increaseshence the
growth and reduced growth period. Departure diameter increases
because of increased liquid inertia with increased growth rate.
Figure 2b shows the variation of bubble departure diameter and
bubble growth period with liquid subcooling for water (
Tw = 8
K). The bubble departure diameter decreases and bubble growth
period increases with increased liquid subcooling. Bubble de-
tachment occurs as the bubble diameter decreases due to forces
acting on the bubble interface. When the bubble base radius falls
short of the grid size, the interface is assumed to lose contact with
the solid. No empirical information is used in determining the de-
tachment. Experiments were conducted by controlling the heat
vol. 28 no. 7 2007
 614 V. K. DHIR ET AL.

ux so as to maintain a nearly constant heater temperature. The
contribution of the various mechanisms of heat transfer (micro-
layer, evaporation around the bubble boundary, and condensa-
tion) as a function of time are shown in Figure 3 for the boiling of
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subcooled water. The condensation around the bubble is zero in
the initial stages of bubble growth (up to 32 ms), when the bubble
is still smaller than the thermal boundary layer. Once the bub-
ble protrudes out of the superheated liquid layer, condensation

Figure 13 Growth, merger, and departure in two-bubble merger for water at
Tw = 5 K and
Tsub = 3 K.

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 V. K. DHIR ET AL.
begins, as shown in Figure 3 as a negative value. The condensa-
tion rate increases as the interfacial area exposed to subcooled
liquid increases.
Contact Angle
Abarajith and Dhir [19] studied the effects of contact angle
on the growth and departure of a single bubble on a horizontal
heated surface during pool boiling under normal gravity condi-
tions. The bubble growth history for two uids with different
contact angles (water and PF5060) is shown in Figure 4. (The
solid line is the prediction, and symbols are the experimental
data.) In general, the lower the contact angle, the smaller the
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bubble departure diameter and bubble growth period. The value
Figure 14 Growth, merger, and departure of three bubbles in a plane (uid:
saturated water,
Tw = 7 K, g = 0.01 ge , = 54 ).
heat transfer engineering
615
of A0 , the Hamaker constant (dispersion constant) correspond-
ing to a given contact angle, is found by iteration so as to match
the bubble shape at the outer edge of the microlayer with that of
the macrolayer. Figure 5 shows the variation of the dispersion
constant, A0 , with contact angle. The dispersion constant, A0 ,
changes from negative to positive value at around 18 , indicat-
ing the change to attractive nature between the liquid and wall.
Figure 6 shows the variation of normalized bubble departure
diameter and bubble departure time with contact angle. For a
contact angle less than 90 , the bubble diameter at departure
decreases linearly as the contact angle is decreased, which is
consistent with the correlation of Fritz [3]. Growth period, how-
ever, varies nonlinearly with contact angle. The evaporative heat
transfer rates from the micro- and macrolayers for various con-
tact angles are shown in Figure 7. The microlayer evaporation
rate increases with increasing contact angle because the bubble
base area and interfacial area increase with increasing contact
angle. A corresponding increase in evaporation rate from the
macrolayer is also observed.
Figure 15 Comparison of (a) bubble growth history and (b) normal force for
single and three-bubble merger cases plane (uid: saturated water,
Tw = 5 K,
g = 0.01 ge , = 54 ).
vol. 28 no. 7 2007
 616 V. K. DHIR ET AL.

Effect of Cycles ized with that at g/ge = 1 for water, and PF5060 is plotted as a
function of gravity level. It is found that the bubble diameter at
Son et al. [11] also studied the effects of multiple bubble
departure, Dd , for water with a contact angle of 54 scales with
growth and departure cycles on heat transfer. The Nusselt num-
gravity as
ber based on the area-averaged heat transfer coefcient and char-
acteristic length, Lo , is plotted in Figure 8 for multiple bub- Dd g1/2 (10)
ble growth and departure cycles. It is seen that the microlayer
contributes about 20% of the total heat transfer rate. Also, it The bubble diameter at departure for PF5060 with a contact
takes about 10 to 12 cycles before quasi-static conditions are angle of 10 , Dd scales as
achieved.
Dd g0.42 (11)
Effect of Gravity
In Figure 9b, the single bubble growth periods normal-
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Abarajith et al. [20] studied the effects of gravity on bubble ized with those at earth normal gravity for both water and
departure diameter and departure time for water and PF5060. In PF5060 are plotted as a function of normalized gravity level.
Figure 9a, the ratio of the bubble diameter at departure normal- The time period of growth for water with a contact angle of 54
scales as

td g0.93 (12)

whereas that for PF5060 with a contact angle of 10 scales as

td g0.82 (13)

It is concluded that there is a very weak nonlinear effect of

contact angle on the effect of gravity on both the bubble diame-
ter at departure and growth period. An experimental validation
of the results has been provided by Qiu et al. [18]. Experimen-
tally reported bubble diameters at departure at very low gravity
(g/ge 104 ) are much smaller than those predicted from the
present work. One reason for this could be that bubbles depart af-
ter merging with other bubbles. Other reasons could be presence
of g-jitter and subcooling of liquid.

Figure 16 The variation of non-dimensional (a) bubble departure diameter, Figure 17 The variation of time averaged wall Nusselt number with non-
and (b) departure time with cavity spacing (uid: saturated PF5060, g = 0.01 ge dimensionalized cavity spacing (uid: saturated PF5060, g = 0.01 ge and
Tw =
and
Tw = 10 K, = 10 ). 10 K).

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 V. K. DHIR ET AL.
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Figure 18 Comparison of heat transfer rates for single and three-bubble
merger placed at the corners of an equilateral triangle with spacing = 1.25 mm
(uid: saturated water at g = 1.0 ge ,
Tw = 10 K).
Bubble Merger
During nucleate boiling, increasing the wall superheat results
in an increase in the bubble release frequency and the number
of nucleation sites that become active. As a result, the merger
Figure 19 (a) The denition of sliding velocity, and (b) the dynamic contact
angle as a function of sliding velocity.
heat transfer engineering
617
of bubbles both normal and along the heater surface can oc-
cur, resulting in the formation of vapor columns and mushroom
type bubbles. A qualitative comparison of the numerical and
experimental bubble shapes during the merger of two bubbles
in the vertical direction is shown in Figure 10, as studied by
Son and Dhir [21]. When the waiting time is sufciently low,
the distance between the bubble growing on the wall and the
previously departed bubble decreases so that the two bubbles
merge in the vertical direction. Thereafter, the lower portion of
the merged bubble springs up due to the restoring action of the
surface tension force. When three or four successive bubbles
merge, a mushroom type vapor column is formed.
Figure 11 shows a comparison of numerically calculated and
experimentally observed bubble shapes during the merger of two
bubbles at earth normal gravity. The bubbles are placed 1.5 mm
apart from each other in saturated water at a wall superheat of
5 K. After merging the two neighboring bubbles, a mushroom
type of bubble with two stems attached to the solid and an in-
tervening liquid layer between the stems are formed. As the
vapor bubble tries to become a spherical vapor, tails are formed,
and the bubble oscillates in size in the plane of the sheet and
normal to it before departing. The shapes obtained from numer-
ical simulation are found to compare well with those observed
in the experiments of Mukharjee and Dhir [22]. However, the
trapped liquid layer (15 < t <17 ms) calculated from numerical
simulations is much smaller than that observed in experiments.
A possible reason for the difference could be the existence of
some liquid subcooling in the experiments. Numerical simula-
tions were carried out assuming liquid to be saturated.
Figure 12 shows a quantitative comparison of the prediction
of equivalent bubble diameter for the two-bubble merger case
with data from experiments. The numerical predictions are found
to again match well with the data from experiments. The bubbles
merge when they grow to a diameter equal to the spacing between
them (i.e., 1.5 mm at 15 ms) and oscillate for a period of time.
The merged bubble lifts off at 62 ms. From these gures, it can
be seen that there is very good agreement between the observed
and predicted bubble shapes.
Figure 13 shows a comparison of predicted and observed
bubble shapes of two-bubble merger in low gravity environment.
The spacing between cavities was 7 mm. The wall superheat was
5 K, and the liquid subcooling was 3 K. The calculated shapes
are in excellent agreement with those observed in experiments. It
should also be noted that in this case, phase lag existed between
the two bubbles and gravity varied with time. A comparison of
predicted and observed bubble shapes during the merger of two
neighboring bubbles at 0.01 ge is shown in Figure 13. In this
case, a slight phase difference existed between the growth of
two bubbles. The results of numerical simulations are in good
agreement with visual observations. Figure 14 shows the bubble
shapes for three bubbles located at the corners of an equilateral
triangle at 0.01 ge (uid: water,
Tw = 7 K,
Tsub = 0.0 K, g =
0.01 ge , = 54 , spacing = 6 mm).
These simulations were carried out in a computational do-
main of 40 mm 40 mm 80 mm. From Figure 14, it can be
vol. 28 no. 7 2007
 618 V. K. DHIR ET AL.

seen that the bubbles begin to merge at t = 0.5 sec. Thereafter,
the merged bubble grows as a single bubble and nally lifts off
at t = 4.2 sec. Figure 15a shows the bubble growth rate com-
parison of the three bubble merger process with that for a single
bubble. It can be seen that the merged bubble lifts off at a much
smaller diameter compared to the single bubble. The growth pe-
riod for the merged bubble is also smaller than that for a single
bubble.
Figure 15b shows the net force acting on the vapor mass for
the three bubble merger case and the single bubble case. The
force acting downward is taken as negative, while the force act-
ing upward is positive. It is found that during bubble merger, an
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additional vertical force (which we call the lift force) is in-
duced by the uid motion. At about 2.5 seconds when the force
changes sign and the merged bubble starts to detach, the single
bubble is still experiencing a negative force and continues to
grow. The difference between the two at 2.5 seconds is desig-
nated as the lift force, and this additional lift force causes the
merged bubble to lift off prematurely. This force plays an im-
portant role as the magnitude of gravity diminishes. Figures 16a
and 16b show the variation of non-dimensional bubble depar-
ture diameter and departure time with cavity spacing when the
bubbles are placed on the corners of an equilateral triangle at a
gravity level of 0.01ge . The bubble departure diameter decreases

Figure 20 The comparison of bubble shapes (uid: PF5060,  = 75 ,
T = 0.5 K,
Tsub = 0.6 K, g = 1.0 ge ).

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 V. K. DHIR ET AL. 619

as the spacing increases until the spacing is equal to 0.25Dd,s , rate during the growth process of one and three bubbles is shown
where Dd,s is the bubble departure diameter corresponding to in Figure 18. Initially, the heat transfer for the three bubble case
that of a single bubble. Thereafter, it increases until the spacing is much higher because of increased interfacial area for heat
is large enough so that the bubbles do not merge. For a given transfer. During merger, oscillations occur. Thereafter, the heat
spacing, the bubble departure diameter increases from inline to transfer rate decreases as the merged vapor mass starts to detach.
right-angled to equilateral orientations.
Figure 17 shows the variation of wall Nusselt number, Nuw ,
(qw . lo / k.
Tw ), with the non-dimensional cavity spacing for the
gravity level of 0.01 ge . The heat ux is averaged over the heater
surface supporting the computational domain and over the bub-
ble growth period. The Nusselt number increases as the cavity
spacing is increased. The increase is due to the increased vapor
production rate(D3d /td ). The time variation of the heat transfer
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Figure 21 The comparison of (a) sliding distance and (b) bubble diameter Figure 22 The comparison of bubble shape between experimental and numer-
between experimental data and numerical simulation results (uid: PF5060, ical simulation results, vertical surface (uid: saturated water U = 0.076 m/s,
= 75 ,
T = 0.5 K,
Tsub = 0.6 K, g = 1.0 ge ).
Tw = 5.0 K, g = 1.0 ge ).

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 620 V. K. DHIR ET AL.

BOILING WITH SLIDING BUBBLE
In ow boiling, the contact angle that forms at the downstream
side is dened as downstream contact angle and the correspond-
ing interface velocity as positive. The contact angle that forms
at the upstream side is dened as upstream contact angle and the
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corresponding interface velocity as negative. Figure 19 shows
the data for the dynamic contact angle, which was reduced from
video pictures of Maity et al. [23]. At zero velocity, the static
contact angle is around 50 ; as the interface velocity increases,
the downstream contact angle decreases, which behaves like a
receding contact angle as the interface moves over liquid phase.

Figure 23 Velocity eld during bubble growth, sliding and lift off, vertical surface (uid: saturated water U = 0.076 m/s,
Tw = 5.0 K, g = 1.0 ge ).

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 V. K. DHIR ET AL. 621

At low velocities, the upstream contact angle increases, which
behaves like an advancing contact angle as the interface moves
over vapor phase. However, at high velocities, both downstream
and upstream contact angles decrease. This is probably because
the interface drags some liquid underneath the bubble when the
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interface velocity is high. Hence, there may be a liquid layer
present between the bubble and the heating surface. This causes
the dynamic contact angle on the upstream side to behave like
a receding contact angle. The solid line representing the data is
used as the input to the numerical model. An iterative procedure

Figure 24 Temperature eld with temperature interval of 0.5 K, vertical surface (uid: saturated water, U = 0.076 m/s,
Tw = 5.0 K, g = 1.0 ge ).

heat transfer engineering vol. 28 no. 7 2007

 622 V. K. DHIR ET AL.
is employed to reconcile the specied contact angles upstream
and downstream with the interface velocity obtained from the
numerical simulations.
Bubble Sliding on a Downward Facing Surface
Figure 20 shows the shapes of the bubble formed on a down-
ward facing surface inclined at 75 to the gravity vector, as it
slides on the heater surface in a pool of PF5060. Both the top
and side views are shown. The bubble shape changes from a
sphere at the nucleation site to an ellipsoid and nally to a cap-
shaped bubble at the downstream end of the inclined surface.
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The bubble shapes predicted from numerical simulations com-
pared reasonably well with the shapes previously obtained by
Qiu and Dhir [24] (see Figure 21).
Figure 25 Comparison of (a) bubble diameter and (b) sliding distance be-
tween experimental data and numerical simulation results, vertical surface (uid:
saturated water,
Tw = 5.0K, g = 1.0ge ).
heat transfer engineering
FLOW BOILING
Figure 22 shows the bubble shape, observed in the experi-
ments and numerical simulation, during one growth cycle on a
vertical surface when the ow velocity parallel to the surface is
0.076 m/sec. The two are in general agreement. Figure 23 shows
the velocity eld in and around the bubble as obtained from nu-
merical simulations. During the early period of bubble growth,
the bubble shape is almost spherical. As the bubble grows and
begins sliding, the bubble becomes elongated in the direction
normal to the heating surface, resulting in an elliptical shape.
Also, the bubble base diameter changes as it slides along the
surface. As the bubble lifts off from the surface, the bubble base
diameter shrinks to almost zero. Because the direction of grav-
ity is parallel to the heating surface, the bubble lift-off occurs
normal to it.
Figure 24 shows the temperature eld around the bub-
ble. As the bubble slides, the thermal layer in the wake be-
hind the bubble becomes thicker, but the thermal layer around
the bubble and just behind thins. This in turn corresponds
to an increase in heat ux. Figure 25 shows a comparison
between the numerical simulation and experimental data for
bubble growth and sliding distance. It can be seen that the
numerical results somewhat overpredict the bubble diameter
at departure, growth period, and sliding distance. Figure 26
shows the pressure contours when the bubble is about to lift
off. The pressure on the top of the bubble is smaller than
the pressure at the bubble base. As a result of this pressure
difference, the bubble lifts off normal to the gravity vector.
This pressure difference is equivalent to a lift force on the
bubble.
Figure 26 Dimensionless pressure contours around the bubble when the bub-
ble is about to lift off, vertical surface (uid: saturated water,
Tw = 5.0 K, g
= 1.0 ge ).
vol. 28 no. 7 2007
 V. K. DHIR ET AL. 623

CONCLUSIONS Greek Symbols

Numerical simulations of the bubble dynamics carried thermal diffusivity, m2 /s

out without any approximation of the bubble shape have apparent contact angle,
been found to provide a promising approach. The effect of density, kg/m3
microlayer evaporation is included. By focusing on the micro- dimensionless temperature
and macro-regions, the length scales from nano to micro to  angle of inclination of the heater surface to the horizontal,
macro have been connected. surface tension, N/m
Effects of wall superheat, liquid subcooling, contact an-
gle, and level of gravity on bubble growth process, bub-
ble diameter at departure, and growth period have been
Subscripts
quantied.
Bubble mergers normal to the heater and along the heater
l liquid
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leading to the formation of vapor columns and mushroom type

sat saturation
bubbles have been studied.
sub subcooling
The merger process is highly nonlinear. A lift force leading
v vapor
to the premature departure of bubbles from the heating surface
w wall
after the merger has been identied.
The pressure difference across the bubble lifts the bubble off
from the surface for the vertical up-ow boiling case.
By employing the dynamic contact angle and velocity rela-
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Vijay K. Dhir is the dean of the Henry Samueli
School of Engineering and a professor in me-
chanical and aerospace engineering at Univer-
sity of California, Los Angeles. He received his
Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 1972.
His research interests involve boiling, two-phase
systems, and microgravity sciences. He has been
elected into the National Academy of Engineering
(NAE), the highest professional honor accorded
to an American engineer
Hari S. Abarajith is a Ph.D. student in mechan-
ical and aerospace engineering at the University
of California, Los Angeles. He received his M.S
in mechanical and aerospace engineering at the
University of California, Los Angeles, in 2002.
He received his B.Tech. in chemical engineering
at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, in
2001. His research interests involve the simula-
tion of pool boiling in microgravity conditions.
Ding Li received his Ph.D. in mechanical
and aerospace engineering at the University of
California, Los Angeles, in 2005. He received his
M.S. in mechanical and aerospace engineering
at the University of California, Los Angeles, in
2002. His research interests involve the simula-
tion of ow boiling and sliding bubbles.
vol. 28 no. 7 2007