An investigation of behaviours of a single bubble in a uniform electric field

The effects of a d.c. electric field on bubble behaviours such as bubble growth, deformation and detachment are investigated. The bubble behaviours are simulated experimentally and the electric force acting on bubble is calculated numerically. The results indicate that bubbles are compressed intensely by the horizontal component of the electric stress and elongated by the vertical component, thus prolate spherical bubbles in the direction of electric field are formed. The investigation shows that both the rate of bubble deformation and the contact angle increase with electric field strength. Under the action of the electric field at a certain voltage, a larger bubble normally breaks into smaller ones while departing from the wall. In addition, the effects of the EHD induced bubble behaviours on boiling heat transfer are discussed. (C) 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.