Heat transfer under reduced gravity conditions

Abstract

Thermocapillary convection and boiling are the main factors influencing heat transfer under near zero-gravity conditions. Studies carried out in satellite laboratories would yield valuable information on the mechanism of these processes in terrestrial conditions which may be used to develop the heat transfer theory for gravity fields of various intensities. This paper gives experimental results for boiling in a narrow range of small relative accelerations to show how the knowledge of the acceleration dependences for boiling characteristics determines the choice of the optimum model process. On the basis of the experimental data on boiling obtained in the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. in the range of relative accelerations from 0.01 to 1, the authors propose mechanisms governing the vapour bubble departure and the intensity of heat transfer and departure from nucleate boiling.