Stability of the Liquid-Vapor Interface under the Combined Influence of Normal Vibrations and an Electric Field

The regime of horizontal subcooled film boiling is characterized by the formation of a thin layer of vapor covering the surface of a flat horizontal heater. Based on the equations of motion of a viscous incompressible fluid and the equation of heat transfer, the stability of such a vapor film is investigated. The influence of the modulation of the gravity field caused by vertical vibrations of the heater of finite frequency, as well as a constant electric field applied normal to the surface of the heater, is taken into account. It is shown that in the case of a thick vapor film, the phase transition has a little effect on the thresholds for the occurrence of parametric instability in the system and its transformation into the most dangerous one. At the same time, the electric field contributes to an increase in these thresholds. It was found that the effect of vibrations on the stabilization of non-parametric instability in the system is possible only in a narrow region of the parameter space where long-wave damped disturbances exist and consists of reducing the critical heat flux of stabilization. A vapor film stabilized in this way can be destroyed due to the development of parametric instability. In contrast to the case of a thick vapor layer, the threshold for the onset of parametric instability for thin films largely depends on the value of subcooling in the system. In addition, this threshold decreases with increasing electric field strength. For a vapor film ten microns thick, the instability threshold can be reduced by a factor of three or more by applying an electric field of about three million volts per meter.