A simplified approach to simulate bubble nucleation in flow boiling

A simplified numerical methodology is proposed to simulate bubble nucleation for flow boiling heat transfer in the microchannels heat sink. Flow boiling characteristics such as bubble departure frequency, bubble grow time, waiting time, and nucleation site density, as well as bubble departure diameter are modeled using empirical theoretical correlations for the bubble nucleation simulation in the microchannel. The volume of fluid (VOF) method is used to simulate two phase flow and also to track bubbles motion in the microchannels. Energy equation is included to analyze the heat transfer of flow boiling. Effect of channel dimensions and mass flow rates to the flow boiling is also examined in this study. Simulation results indicate that the heat dissipation capability of the heat sink can be significantly enhanced by the flow boiling in microchannel. Smaller channel height and higher coolant flow rate also demonstrate better heat dissipation capability.