Effects of system pressure and heat flux on bubble nucleation and growth

Characteristics of bubble nucleation and growth are critical for its application. It is affected by several factors including viscosity, surface tension and temperature. However, the effect of pressure on bubble nucleation and growth has been underreported, although it processes significant effect on above characteristics. In this work, a micro copper electrode is etched on a slab covered with copper to produce bubble on the surface by current input. The nucleation time of bubble is measured under different heat flux and system pressures. The nucleation and growth processes are recorded with a high speed camera in order to discuss the effects of heat flux and system pressure on bubble characteristics. The experiment results indicate that the micro electrode with higher heat flux produces more thermal energy, which makes the time of bubble nucleation shorter and the speed of bubble growth faster. Higher system pressure causes the increase of the critical nucleation temperature and also baffles the bubble nucleation and growth. Bubble growth includes the stages of rapid growth and dynamic equilibrium, with the speed being from fast to slow. In the former part of rapid growth, heat flux plays a dominant role in bubble growth. While the effect of system pressure on bubble growth becomes significant in the latter part of rapid growth. Both the nucleation time and bubble growth agree well with the theoretical analysis. The obtained results help to accurately control bubble nucleation and growth required in different application.