The effects of gravity on the features of the interfacial waves in annular two-phase flow

A physical model of interfacial waves in annular two-phase flow was studied in both microgravity and normal gravity. The wave structure was obtained for local film thickness and velocity measurements using a conductance probe technique. It was found that the wave height, and not its width, is strongly affected by changing the gravity level. In fact, the wave height in normal gravity is more than twice that in microgravity. Using an analogous approach to a turbulent, single-phase flow in a rough tube, a preliminary mathematical model was proposed to calculate the wave amplitude. The model fits well with the experimental data and shows that the wave height in normal gravity is approximately 1.7 times the combined thickness of the viscous sublayer and transition zones in the turbulent gas stream. The wave height in microgravity was estimated to be approximately 80% of the total thickness.