Bubble detachment assisted by electrowetting-driven interfacial wave

This article investigates both theoretically and numerically a novel mechanism of bubble detachment by an electrowetting-driven interfacial wave, inspired by droplet control and manipulation via electrowetting. Electrowetting-on-dielectric can be used to modulate the contact point movement at the wa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPhysics of fluids (1994) Vol. 29; no. 10
Main Authors Xu, Haolun, Yan, Run, Wang, Sheng, Chen, Chung-Lung
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Melville American Institute of Physics 01.10.2017
Subjects
Amplitudes
Bubbles
Computational fluid dynamics
Contact angle
Detaching
Electric potential
Fluid dynamics
Mathematical models
Physics
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Summary:This article investigates both theoretically and numerically a novel mechanism of bubble detachment by an electrowetting-driven interfacial wave, inspired by droplet control and manipulation via electrowetting. Electrowetting-on-dielectric can be used to modulate the contact point movement at the water-air interface in a thin liquid film. Rapid oscillation of the contact line is achieved by a swift change of voltage under an AC signal. When disturbed with such contact angle changes, the interfacial wave between two immiscible fluids disrupts bubble dynamics. Numerical modeling reveals that an air bubble on a hydrophobic surface can be detached by the trough of such a wave. The frequency of the interfacial wave is twice the voltage frequency. A higher voltage frequency leads to a smaller amplitude and higher celerity of the wave, while a lower voltage frequency leads to a larger wave amplitude and lower celerity. The bubble can easily detach when the voltage frequency is 10 Hz. However, the bubble fails to detach when the voltage frequency is 100 Hz. This approach can be useful to improve two-phase cooling performance.
ISSN:1070-6631
1089-7666
DOI:10.1063/1.4996905