Growth and collapse of a vapor bubble in a narrow tube

Abstract

International audienceThe fluid mechanical aspects of the axisymmetric growth and collapse of abubble in a narrow tube filled with a viscous liquid are studied numerically.The tube is open at both ends and connects two liquid reservoirs at constantpressure. The bubble is initially a small sphere and growth is triggered by alarge internal pressure applied for a short time. After this initial phase, themotion proceeds by inertia. This model simulates the effect of an intense, localized, brief heating of the liquid which leads to the nucleation and growth ofa bubble. The dimensionless parameters governing the problem are discussedand their effects illustrated with several examples. It is also shown that, whenthe bubble is not located at the midpoint of the tube, a net ow develops capable of pumping fluid from one reservoir to the other. The motivation forthis work is offered by the possibility to use vapor bubbles as actuators influid-handling microdevices