Engineering Papers⌕ Search

SEARCH · Engineering Papers

Results for “BUBBLE”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 199 records · Page 11
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

The Effect of Surface Induced Flows on Bubble and Particle Aggregation

Almost 20 years have elapsed since a phenomenon called "radial specific coalescence" was identified. During studies of electrolytic oxygen evolution from the back side of a vertically oriented, transparent tin oxide electrode in alkaline electrolyte, one of the authors (Sides) observed that large "collector" bubbles appeared to attract smaller bubbles. The bubbles moved parallel to the surface of the electrode, while the electric field was normal to the electrode surface. The phenomenon was reported but not explained. More recently self ordering of latex particles was observed during electrophoretic deposition at low DC voltages likewise on a transparent tin oxide electrode. As in the bubble work, the field was normal to the electrode while the particles moved parallel to it. Fluid convection caused by surface induced flows (SIF) can explain these two apparently different experimental observations: the aggregation of particles on an electrode during electrophoretic deposition, and a radial bubble coalescence pattern on an electrode during electrolytic gas evolution. An externally imposed driving force (the gradient of electrical potential or temperature), interacting with the surface of particles or bubbles very near a planar conducting surface, drives the convection of fluid that causes particles and bubbles to approach each other on the electrode.

Guelcher, Scott A.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Acoustic Bubble Removal from Boiling Surfaces

The object of the study was the investigation of the forces generated by standing acoustic waves on vapor bubbles, both far and near boundaries. In order to accomplish this objective, in view of the scarcity of publications on the topic, it has been necessary to build an edifice of knowledge about vapor bubbles in sound and flow fields from the ground up, as it were. We have addressed problems of gradually greater difficulty as follows: 1. In the first place, the physics of an stationary isolated bubble subject to a sound field in an unbounded liquid was addressed; 2. The case of bubbles translating in a stationary pressure field was then considered; 3. This was followed by a study of the combined effects of sound and translation, 4. And of a neighboring boundary 5. Finally, a new method to deal with nonspherical bubbles was developed- In addition to the work on vapor bubbles, some studies on gas bubbles were conducted in view of NASA's interest in the phenomenon of sonoluminescence.

Prosperetti, Andrea↗
NASA NTRS2001

The Action of Pressure-Radiation Forces on Pulsating Vapor Bubbles

The action of pressure-radiation (or Bjerknes) forces on gas bubbles is well understood. This paper studies the analogous phenomenon for vapor bubbles, about which much less is known. A possible practical application is the removal of boiling bubbles from the neighborhood of a heated surface in the case of a downward facing surface or in the absence of gravity. For this reason, the case of a bubble near a plane rigid surface is considered in detail. It is shown that, when the acoustic wave fronts are parallel to the surface, the bubble remains trapped due to secondary Bjerknes force caused by an "image bubble." When the wave fronts are perpendicular to the surface, on the other hand, the bubble can be made to slide laterally.

Hao, Y.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Measurements of Shear Lift Force on a Bubble in Channel Flow in Microgravity

Under microgravity conditions, the shear lift force acting on bubbles, droplets or solid particles in multiphase flows becomes important because under normal gravity, this hydrodynamic force is masked by buoyancy. This force plays an important role in furnishing the detachment process of bubbles in a setting where a bubble suspension is needed in microgravity. In this work, measurements of the shear lift force acting on a bubble in channel flow are performed. The shear lift force is deduced from the bubble kinematics using scaling and then compared with predictions from models in literature that address different asymptotic and numerical solutions. Basic trajectory calculations are then performed and the results are compared with experimental data of position of the bubble in the channel. A direct comparison of the lateral velocity of the bubbles is also made with the lateral velocity prediction from investigators, whose work addressed the shear lift on a sphere in different two-dimensional shear flows including Poiseuille flow.

Nahra, Henry K.↗
NASA NTRS2003

Time and Space Resolved Heat Transfer Measurements Under Nucleate Bubbles with Constant Heat Flux Boundary Conditions

Investigations into single bubble pool boiling phenomena are often complicated by the difficulties in obtaining time and space resolved information in the bubble region. This usually occurs because the heaters and diagnostics used to measure heat transfer data are often on the order of, or larger than, the bubble characteristic length or region of influence. This has contributed to the development of many different and sometimes contradictory models of pool boiling phenomena and dominant heat transfer mechanisms. Recent investigations by Yaddanapyddi and Kim and Demiray and Kim have obtained time and space resolved heat transfer information at the bubble/heater interface under constant temperature conditions using a novel micro-heater array (10x10 array, each heater 100 microns on a side) that is semi-transparent and doubles as a measurement sensor. By using active feedback to maintain a state of constant temperature at the heater surface, they showed that the area of influence of bubbles generated in FC-72 was much smaller than predicted by standard models and that micro-conduction/micro-convection due to re-wetting dominated heat transfer effects. This study seeks to expand on the previous work by making time and space resolved measurements under bubbles nucleating on a micro-heater array operated under constant heat flux conditions. In the planned investigation, wall temperature measurements made under a single bubble nucleation site will be synchronized with high-speed video to allow analysis of the bubble energy removal from the wall.

Myers, Jerry G.↗
NASA NTRS2004

Effects of Elevated Free-Stream Turbulence on Active Control of a Separation Bubble

The Effects of elevated free-stream turbulence (FST) on the natural and periodically excited separation bubbles were studied experimentally, due to the relevance of this flow to low-pressure turbine blades at low Reynolds numbers. A bubble was formed at the leading edge of a flat plate and the FST level was altered by placing a grid across the flow at different locations upstream of the plate. The mixing across the separated shear-layer, forming the free boundary of the bubble, increased due to the elevated FST and due to nominally two-dimensional periodic excitation, both flattening and shortening the bubble. Periodic excitation at frequencies that were at least an order of magnitude lower than those associated with the initial shear-layer instability, were very effective at low FST, because the amplitudes of the excitation frequency and its harmonic were amplified over the bubble. High frequency excitation (F+ 3, based on the length of the baseline low FST bubble) had a major effect close to the separation location, while farther downstream the excited fluctuations rapidly decayed in the reattachment region. Low frequency excitation, that generated waves comparable to the length of the unperturbed bubble (F+ 1) were less effective and their magnitude decayed at a slower rate downstream of reattachment. An increase in the level of the FST reduced the net effect of the periodic excitation on the mixing enhancement and subsequent reattachment process, probably due to a destructive interference between the nominally 2D excitation and the random (in space and time) FST, reducing the spanwise coherence and therefore the effectiveness of the current control strategy. However, even at the reduced effectiveness of 2D periodic excitation at elevated FST, it accelerated the reattachment process and the recovery rate of the reattached boundary layer, enhancing the boundary layer resistance to repeat separation and reducing its momentum loss further downstream.

Ashpis, D.↗
NASA NTRS2004

MOBI: Microgravity Observations of Bubble Interactions

One of the greatest uncertainties affecting the design of multiphase flow technologies for space exploration is the spatial distribution of phases that will arise in microgravity or reduced gravity. On Earth, buoyancy-driven motion predominates whereas the shearing of the bubble suspension controls its behavior in microgravity. We are conducting a series of ground-based experiments and a flight experiment spanning the full range of ratios of buoyancy to shear. These include: (1) bubbles rising in a quiescent liquid in a vertical channel; (2) weak shear flow induced by slightly inclining the channel; (3) moderate shear flow in a terrestrial vertical pipe flow; and (4) shearing of a bubble suspension in a cylindrical Couette cell in microgravity. We consider nearly monodisperse suspensions of 1 to 1.8 mm diameter bubbles in aqueous electrolyte solutions. The liquid velocity disturbance produced by bubbles in this size range can often be described using an inviscid analysis. Electrolytic solutions lead to hydrophilic repulsion forces that stabilize the bubble suspension without causing Marangoni stresses. We will discuss the mechanisms that control the flow behavior and phase distribution in the ground-based experiments and speculate on the factors that may influence the suspension flow and bubble volume fraction distribution in the flight experiment.

Koch, Donald L.↗
NASA NTRS2000

Bubbly Suspension Generated in Low Gravity

Bubbly suspensions are crucial for mass and heat transport processes on Earth and in space. These processes are relevant to pharmaceutical, chemical, nuclear, and petroleum industries on Earth. They are also relevant to life support, in situ resource utilization, and propulsion processes for long-duration space missions such as the Human Exploration and Development of Space program. Understanding the behavior of the suspension in low gravity is crucial because of factors such as bubble segregation, which could result in coalescence and affect heat and mass transport. Professors A. Sangani and D. Koch, principal investigators in the Microgravity Fluid Physics Program managed by the NASA Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, are studying the physics of bubbly suspension. They plan to shear a bubbly suspension in a couette cell in microgravity to study bubble segregation and compare the bubble distribution in the couette gap with the one predicted by the suspension-averaged equations of motion. Prior to the Requirement Definition Review of this flight experiment, a technology for generating a bubbly suspension in microgravity has to be established, tested, and verified.

Nahra, Henry K.↗
NASA NTRS2006

Transient Flow Dynamics in Optical Micro Well Involving Gas Bubbles

The Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development (LOCAD) team at NASA s Marshall Space Flight Center is utilizing Lab-On-a-Chip to support technology development specifically for Space Exploration. In this paper, we investigate the transient two-phase flow patterns in an optic well configuration with an entrapped bubble through numerical simulation. Specifically, the filling processes of a liquid inside an expanded chamber that has bubbles entrapped. Due to the back flow created by channel expansion, the entrapped bubbles tend to stay stationary at the immediate downstream of the expansion. Due to the huge difference between the gas and liquid densities, mass conservation issues associated with numerical diffusion need to be specially addressed. The results are presented in terms of the movement of the bubble through the optic well. Bubble removal strategies are developed that involve only pressure gradients across the optic well. Results show that for the bubble to be moved through the well, pressure pulsations must be utilized in order to create pressure gradients across the bubble itself.

Johnson, B.↗
NASA NTRS2002

Experimental Visualization of Bubble Formation from an Orifice In Microgravity in the Presence of Electric Fields

The formation of air bubbles injected into a stagnant, isothermal liquid in microgravity through an orifice was studied. The bubbles grew very large in microgravity. They attained a nearly spherical shape and showed pronounced affinity towards coalescence in the absence of electric fields and other perturbations. Under the influence of electric fields, periodic detachment was observed, with bubble sizes larger than in terrestrial conditions. The bubble shape was elongated. After detachment, the bubbles moved away from the electrode at which they formed without coalescing with other bubbles. Experimental data on bubble shape and size at detachment showed good agreement with models.

Herman, C.↗
DOE OSTI2026

Probing and Tuning Strain‐Localized Exciton Emission in 2D Material Bubbles at Room Temperature

In monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides bubbles-nanoscale deformations typically exhibiting a dome-like shape-Excitons are confined by the strain effect, which exhibits extraordinary emission properties, such as single photon generation, enhanced light emission, and spectrally tunable excitonic states. While the strain profiles of these bubbles are extensively studied, this work provides an approach 1) to directly visualize the associated exciton properties in bubbles formed in WSe2 monolayer, revealing an intrinsic emission wavelength shift of ≈40 nm, and 2) actively modify local strain, enabling further exciton emission tuning over a range of 50 nm. These are achieved by emission mapping and nanoindentation using a dielectric near-field probe, which enables the detection of local emission spectra and emission lifetimes within individual bubbles. Statistical analysis of 67 bubbles uncovers an emission wavelength distribution centered around 780 nm. Furthermore, saturation behavior in the power-dependent studies and the associated lifetime change reveal the localized nature of the strain-induced states. These findings provide direct insights into the strain-localized emission dynamics in bubbles and establish a robust framework for non-destructive, reversible, and predictable nanoscale emission control, presenting a potential avenue for developing next-generation tunable quantum optical sources.

2D materials bubbles↗
DOE OSTI2024

Plasma Bubble Column Reactor: A High Throughput Reactor Design for Water Treatment

Plasma-based water treatment (PWT) is a promising technology that can degrade various emerging contaminants. However, PWT application on an industrially viable scale is hindered by the lack of an efficient reactor design that combines enhanced plasma-liquid contact with high liquid throughput. This work investigates the applicability of a bubble column gas-liquid contactor to PWT. A pulsed plasma bubble column reactor (PBCR) with a concentric rod-cylinder electrode configuration was used to correlate contaminant removal performance with the gas-liquid contact parameters of the bubble column. A surfactant, rhodamine B dye, and a nonsurfactant, caffeine, were used as model contaminants at µM concentration levels. The bubble column characteristics, i.e., gas holdup, bubble size distribution, and gas-liquid area, were measured as a function of superficial gas velocity using image-based methods. Degradation rates of both contaminants increased with gas flowrate. For caffeine, the increase was attributed to intensified bulk liquid mixing, while dye degradation increased due to the increased gas-liquid area. Ultimately, we show that bubble column contactors significantly improve the utilization of plasma-generated reactive species toward contaminant degradation by distributing them over a large contact area. As a result, a better match between the plasma species interfacial flux and the interfacial contaminant concentration leads to improved treatment energy efficiency. Furthermore, typical degradation energy efficiencies were ~10 g/kWh for caffeine and ~60 g/kWh for rhodamine B.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Application of a deep learning semantic segmentation model to helium bubbles and voids in nuclear materials

Imaging nanoscale radiation-induced defects using the transmission electron microscope (TEM) is a key factor in the successful implementation of materials for nuclear energy structural applications. Analyzing each defect in a TEM micrograph is currently a manual task. To identify the defects in a single image can take anywhere from 15 min to an hour and a project can require the analysis of anywhere from tens to ≥ 100 images. Here, we use artificial intelligence (AI) models to automate this task. For simplification, we evaluated images with only a single type of defect; helium bubbles. Additionally, we performed semantic segmentation of these helium bubble defects in electron microscopy images of irradiated FeCrAl alloys using a deep learning DefectSegNet model. This model, which was previously used to classify crystal defects, is inspired by the classic DenseNet and U-Net image segmentation models. It claims high spatial resolution, but has poor performance at object boundaries. Our paper improves the DefectSegNet model’s application by adding two new features. First, the DefectSegNet model is applied not only to perform calculation pixel-wise but also object (or feature) wise. Because object-wise metrics are directly relevant to our final goal of detecting bubbles, whereas pixel-wise classification is only an intermediate step, it is an important part of our study. Second, a distance map loss (DML) function has been added to increase its performance at object boundaries. It is crucial to accurately represent defects boundaries, especially bubbles, in order to track the bubble-induced swelling caused by irradiation. The boundary-focused DML function is also compared to other loss functions like Cross-entropy, Weighted Binary Cross Entropy (WBCE), Dice and Intersection over Union (IOU). Finally, by incorporating new features, we found a marked improvement on segmentation quality and better shape preservation at the boundaries and areas of the bubbles.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Evidence of Xe-incorporation in the bubble superlattice in irradiated U-Mo fuel

For years, researchers have reported competing ideas on the formation of fission gas bubble super lattices in metallic fuels, which was postulated to be comprised of elemental xenon (Xe) atoms. However, the chemical and physical arrangement of these elements within this gas bubble superlattice has not been verified. In this contribution, Xe was chemically profiled using atomic resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) and atom probe tomography (APT) techniques in irradiated uranium-molybdenum (U-Mo) fuels. These complementary techniques provide conclusive evidence of Xe presence in bubble superlattice up to fission densities of 4.5×10 21 fissions/cm 3 and provide quantitative assessment of Xe content within the bubble superlattice. Based on the results of simultaneous imaging and spectroscopy using STEM, the chemical composition of the Xe bubble superlattice present in fission densities less than 4.5x10 21 fissions/cm 3 in U-Mo fuel was measured and found to be up to 8±1.3 atomic %. APT data complements STEM findings on Xe distribution in irradiated U-Mo fuel sample. APT showed a chemical composition of 0.7±0.1 atomic%. Finally, this study concludes by providing conclusive evidence that Xe is not only present within an atomically arranged bubble superlattice but provides fundamental insight the physical state of Xe in low enriched U-Mo monolithic fuel.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2021

Operator learning for predicting multiscale bubble growth dynamics

We report simulating and predicting multiscale problems that couple multiple physics and dynamics across many orders of spatiotemporal scales is a great challenge that has not been investigated systematically by deep neural networks (DNNs). Herein, we develop a framework based on operator regression, the so-called deep operator network (DeepONet), with the long-term objective to simplify multiscale modeling by avoiding the fragile and time-consuming “hand-shaking” interface algorithms for stitching together heterogeneous descriptions of multiscale phenomena. To this end, as a first step, we investigate if a DeepONet can learn the dynamics of different scale regimes, one at the deterministic macroscale and the other at the stochastic microscale regime with inherent thermal fluctuations. Specifically, we test the effectiveness and accuracy of the DeepONet in predicting multirate bubble growth dynamics, which is described by a Rayleigh–Plesset (R–P) equation at the macroscale and modeled as a stochastic nucleation and cavitation process at the microscale by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD). First, we generate data using the R–P equation for multirate bubble growth dynamics caused by randomly time-varying liquid pressures drawn from Gaussian random fields (GRFs). Our results show that properly trained DeepONets can accurately predict the macroscale bubble growth dynamics and can outperform long short-term memory networks. We also demonstrate that the DeepONet can extrapolate accurately outside the input distribution using only very few new measurements. Subsequently, we train the DeepONet with DPD data corresponding to stochastic bubble growth dynamics. Although the DPD data are noisy and we only collect sparse data points on the trajectories, the trained DeepONet model is able to predict accurately the mean bubble dynamics for time-varying GRF pressures. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that DeepONets can be employed to unify the macroscale and microscale models of the multirate bubble growth problem, hence providing new insight into the role of operator regression via DNNs in tackling realistic multiscale problems and in simplifying modeling with heterogeneous descriptions.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗
DOE OSTI2023

Two-Phase Turbulent Kinetic Energy Budget Computation in Co-Current Taylor Bubble Flow

Simulation of two-phase flows is relevant for reactor design and safety at normal operation or during accident scenarios. Often, the two-phase flow is in a regime in which slugs are formed or where the flow stratifies. Modeling such situations using standard single-phase Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) turbulence models fails due to an overestimation of the eddy viscosity at the resolved two-phase interface. To solve this, an ad hoc turbulence damping term has been proposed in the literature that reduces the turbulence production locally at a two-phase interface, analogously to turbulence wall functions. However, this approach must be tailored to the specific setting and does not consider physical contributions such as surface tension or flow topology. Therefore, the problem of two-phase interfacial turbulence must be studied more in-depth. In this work, we consider co-current turbulent Taylor bubble flow using high-fidelity numerical simulation. The Basilisk code is used to simulate a Taylor bubble rising in a vertical pipe. By simulating the bubble in a moving frame of reference, we may study the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) budgets ahead of the bubble, in its wake, and across the interface. The implementation of the TKE budget computation and the underlying averaging techniques are validated for the single-phase region ahead of the Taylor bubble using reference direct numerical simulation data. The analysis of the TKE budgets in the setting of Taylor bubble flow allows for the study of how turbulence behaves due to the presence of a two-phase interface and, in turn, supports the improvement of two-phase RANS models.

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS↗
DOE OSTI2025

Helium bubble formation in aged plutonium metal at ambient conditions

A model of helium bubble formation is developed that assumes the initial nascent bubbles are generated when two diffusing helium atoms come within a distance of about the interatomic spacing of the plutonium atoms. These nascent bubbles are assumed to be locked in place and grow as additional helium atoms diffuse across their surfaces. Calculations of the helium-bubble number density and sizes as a function of age are compared to experiment. This leads to an inferred helium diffusion coefficient of-the-order of 10 -20 m 2 /s, supports the idea that most of the helium from alpha-decay end up in bubbles, and that previous transmission electron microscopy size estimates are biased low. The energy that helium can transfer to 40-year-old plutonium, upon expansion, is determined to be <0.1 Joules per gram of metal. The model predicts differences between the bubble properties in naturally and accelerated aged plutonium.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

Motion of Air Bubbles in a Cement Slurry

The dynamics of air (gas) bubbles in a column of cement slurry is examined numerically. The air injected at the bottom of a laboratory-scale column through a porous distributor plate spatially distributes and migrates as a swarm of bubbles throughout the slurry toward the freeboard. The two-phase system of the cement slurry and the air bubbles is modeled using the conservation equations of mass and linear momentum in the framework of the volume-of-fluid (VOF) approach. The cement slurry is modeled using the Herschel–Bulkley and Bingham fluid models. Results show that the mean Sauter diameter and the mean rise velocity of the bubbles decrease with the gas flow rate. Meanwhile, it is found that the rising of the bubbles is controlled by breakup events, along with relatively weak path instabilities of the bubbles resulting in relatively straight trajectories, independent of the gas flow rate. The extent of the yielded region appears larger for the Herschel–Bulkley model compared to the Bingham fluid model (by approximately 10%).

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗