Laws of Vapor Bubble Growth in the Superheated Liquid Volume (Thermal Growth Scheme)

The mathematical formulation of the heat-input-controlled vapor bubble growth in an infinite volume of uniformly heated liquid is described. Using the dimensional theory, the structure of the solution was analyzed qualitatively. A historical survey of theoretical works devoted to the considered problem is presented. Asymptotic solutions are obtained and studied systematically. The results of the complete analytical solution of the problem and formulas for the calculation of the bubble growth rate in the whole domain of possible variations in regime parameters are presented. The conclusion is made that the influence of permeability of the interface has a significant effect on the bubble growth rate. It is shown that the Plesset–Zwick formula, which is commonly accepted in computational practice, is not applicable at both small and large Jakob numbers and its good agreement with the experiment is determined to a large extent by a combination of the imperfectness of the theoretical analysis and the experimental error. The conclusion is made that, for many liquids, the ultimately achievable value of the dimensionless superheating parameter (Stefan number) can exceed unity. In this case, the regularities in the bubble growth acquire some features unexplored to date.