Dynamic Bubble Behaviour during Microscale Subcooled Boiling

Bubble cycles, including initiation, growth and departure, are the physical basis of nucleate boiling. The present investigation, however, reveals unusual bubble motions during subcooled nucleate boiling on microwires 25 or 100 μm in diameter. Two types of bubble motions, bubble sweeping and bubble return, are observed in the experiments. Bubble sweeping describes a bubble moving back and forth along the wire, which is motion parallel to the wire. Bubble return is the bubble moving back to the wire after it has detached or leaping above the wire. Theoretical analyses and numerical simulations are conducted to investigate the driving mechanisms for both bubble sweeping and return. Marangoni flow from warm to cool regions along the bubble interface is found to produce the shear stresses needed to drive these unusual bubble movements.