Effects of V-cavity asymmetry and distribution on flow boiling characteristics in microchannel

VOF model and user-defined function were applied to simulate the flow boiling process of water in microchannel with V-cavities. The effects of V-cavity asymmetry（ε） and distribution on the bubble growth and detachment and the transition of gas-liquid two-phase flow in microchannel were analyzed. The results show that the magnitude of the V-cavity asymmetry can change the bubble detachment diameter and detachment time. The bubble detachment diameter of the V-cavity with asymmetry ε of 1.0 is 0.063 mm and 0.025 mm smaller than that of the V-cavity with ε of 0 and ε of 0.5, and the bubble detachment time is shortened by 5.20 ms and 2.40 ms, respectively. The transition of gas-liquid two-phase flow from bubbly flow to confined bubble flow is 2.7 mm backward along the flow direction, and the occupied area of the segment annular flow in microchannel is reduced slightly. When the V-cavity with ε of 1.0 has different distribution along the flow direction, the gas-liquid two-phase flow in microchannel presents different characteristics. The V-cavity with increasingly dense distribution can better inhibit the coalescence of bubbles in microchannel without segment annular flow, which can ensure the existence of liquid film near the wall to avoid the local drying for improving the stability and reliability of flow boiling heat transfer in microchannel.