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A singular-perturbation theory of the growth of a bubble cluster in a superheated liquid

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 April 2006

Georges L. Chahine
Affiliation:
Tractor Hydronauties Inc., 7210 Pindell School Road, Lurel, Maryland
Han Lieh Liu
Affiliation:
Tractor Hydronauties Inc., 7210 Pindell School Road, Lurel, Maryland

Abstract

The presence and behaviour of vaporous cavities are of major importance in many modern industrial applications where heat transfer, boiling or cavitation are involved. Following a sudden depressurization of a superheated fluid, the bubble growth rate controls the generated transients and heat transfer. Most existing computer modelling and prediction codes are based on individual spherical-bubble-growth studies and neglect possible interactions and collective phenomena. This paper addresses this collective behaviour using a singular-perturbation approach. The method of matched asymptotic expansions is used to describe the bubble growth, taking into account its interaction with a finite number of surrounding bubbles. A computer program is developed and the influence of the various parameters is studied numerically for the particular case of a symmetrical equal-size-bubble configuration and a thermal-boundary-layer approximation. A significant influence of these interactions on bubble growth and heat transfer is observed: compared to an isolated-bubble case, the growth rate of a bubble is reduced in the presence of other bubbles, and the temperature drop at its wall is smaller. As a result the heat loss due to bubble growth is smaller. These effects increase with the number of interacting bubbles.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1985 Cambridge University Press

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