Experimental investigation of the impact of surface tension and artificial nucleation site geometry on the bubble growth

Abstract

Abstract The present work provides an experimental assessment of the impact of liquid surface tension on the single bubble dynamics generated by artificial nucleation cavities during boiling in a quiescent liquid. De-ionized water is used with and without added non-ionic surfactant (Dynol 800) to modify the fluid’s surface tension while keeping the other thermo-physical fluid properties unchanged. Furthermore, two different cavity geometries are investigated: a vertical and a 30°-inclined cone produced via femtosecond laser texturing. This paper shows preliminary results related to the influence of surface tension and cavity geometry on the single bubble dynamics. A methodological baseline is provided to enable future studies aiming to answer still-open questions about vapour bubble nucleation phenomena.