LATTICE BOLTZMANN SIMULATION STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF A PULSED ELECTRIC FIELD ON BUBBLE RISING MOTION

An electric field can effectively control the shape and motion of bubbles, which is of great significance for enhancing boiling heat transfer performance. This study employs an integrated computational approach, combining the 3D lattice Boltzmann framework with a perfect dielectric model, to investigate bubble dynamics during vertical migration under pulsed electric field excitation. The focus is on analyzing the effects of different electrocapillary numbers, pulse periods, duty cycles, bubble sizes, and surface tension coefficients on bubble rise motion. The results show that, under the pulsed electric field, the bubble rising process is intermittently compressed by the electric force, causing the gas-liquid interface morphology to periodically switch between hemispherical and ellipsoidal shapes. For bubbles with high surface tension coefficients and small sizes, the effect of the electric field on the deformation of the gas-liquid interface is weaker, and the bubble rise process almost maintains a spherical shape. Increasing the electrocapillary number and duty cycle is conducive to the formation of ellipsoidal bubbles, which reduces the bubble rise speed. For different pulse periods, the bubble rise speed remains constant.