Waves on the surface of a vapor film under conditions of intensive heat fluxes.
We investigate surface waves on the interface between a thin vapor film and a layer of liquid in the presence of a high steady heat flux. This problem arises when a metal surface heated to a high temperature is immersed into a cold liquid. The general boundary conditions, which take into account the temperature dependence of saturation pressure on the vapor-liquid interface, are derived. These boundary conditions generalize the traditional conditions on the free surface of liquid in the gravity field. The stability of the planar vapor-liquid interface is investigated analytically with linear approximations. The dispersion equation for surface waves on the vapor-liquid interface in the presence of strong heat flux is derived. A number of different, distinct from the classical surface wave problem, effects arise in the problem under consideration. The thermal processes, which occur on the phase boundary and are possible in the absence of gravity force, lead to the generation of weakly decaying periodic waves of low amplitude, whose velocities may exceed significantly those of gravity waves. The heat flux through the interface may cause periodic surface waves of small length (ripple), which are not capillary. The processes of phase transition on the interface are capable of providing the stability of vapor film under a layer of liquid in the gravity field.
Sinkevich
Oleg A
OA
Moscow Power Engineering Institute (Technical University), Moscow, 105835, Russia.