Numerical study on a sliding bubble during nucleate boiling

A numerical method fur simulating bubble motion during nucleate boiling is presented. The vapor-liquid interface is captured by a level set method which can easily handle breaking and merging of the interface and can calculate an interfacial curvature more accurately than the VOF method using a step function. The level set method is modified to include the effects of phase change ar the interface and contact angle at the wall as well as to achieve mass conservation during the whole calculation procedure. Also, a simplified model to predict the hear nux in a thin liquid microlayer is developed. The method is applied for simulation of a sliding bubble on a vertical surface to further understand the physics of partial nucleate boiling. Based on the computed results, the effects of contact angle, wall superheat and phase change on a sliding bubble are quantified.