Growth of a vapour bubble in a viscous, superheated liquid in two-phase flow

Abstract

This paper presents the growth of a vapour bubble in a viscous, superheated liquid. The problem is solved analytically using the Plesset and Zwick method after modifying the pressure difference to include a multiple quantity of the initial pressure difference, its coefficient b giving the necessary condition for the growth process. Relations between the initial and final times in terms of the given physical parameters are derived. The bubble radius is proportional to the thermal diffusivity, the initial pressure difference and its coefficient, while it is inversely proportional to the surface tension, the dynamic viscosity, and the initial void fraction. Moreover, for b = 1 × 10−2, better agreement is achieved to some experimental data than some previous theoretical works, for the initial superheated conditions at 2.1, 3.1, and 4.5 K.