A thin wire, subcooled boiling experiment was performed onboard an aircraft flying a parabolic trajectory as a means to provide microgravity conditions. Microgravity allows for improved observation of jet flow phenomena and the ability to investigate their behavior in the absence of buoyant forces. A new mode of jet flows was observed in microgravity which accounts for the high heat fluxes measured on the wire heater. A relative bubble area analysis method was able to quantify vapor production and bubble behavior across multiple frames of video. A cross-correlation calculation similar to particle image velocimetry (PIV) provided velocities of the micro-bubbles in the flow. These micro-bubble jet flows and the convection currents they induce have the potential to allow for sustained boiling to occur in microgravity at high heat fluxes.
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/heng-ban/15/