Numerical Simulation of a Laser-Induced Vapour Bubble

Abstract

This thesis comprises investigation and simulations of the physical phenomena governing formation, expansion and collapse of a laser-induced vapour bubble in a superheated li- quid. The application of interest is a laser-induced crystallization, where the bubble acts as a nucleation site for crystals. To fully resolve growth and collapse of the bubble the Volume of Fluid (VOF) numerical framework is used. Inertia and thermal e ects are identi ed as the governing phenomena for the bubble dy- namics. Emphasis is put on thermal and phase-change phenomena. An interface phase- change model, incorporating both evaporation and condensation, is developed and imple- mented into ANSYS Fluent through user-de ned functions. The implemented model is able to produce qualitatively promising results that are in fair agreement with both experiments and analytical solutions from the literature. The reasons behind the observed di erences are discussed. Suggestions for future improvements of the framework are made in the thesis. Therefore, the thesis has a great potential in identifying, proposing and fully understanding a driving force for the future generation of industrial crystallizers.