Phase change physics are applicable to phase-diagram-on-a-chip, a relatively new concept in the field of microfluidics. Generally speaking, phase diagrams are graphs used in the field of physical chemistry to show various phases of a substance with changing conditions of pressure, temperature, etc. When a phase diagram is directly generated on a micro-chip (as opposed to the traditional way of drawing it on a page from experimental data) it is called a phase-diagram-on-a-chip. FLOW-3D‘s phase change model is a powerful tool for phase change microfluidics applications by accurately predicting the formation and interactions of vapor bubbles and the surrounding liquid – the bubbles can respond dynamically to liquid motion, and can grow or shrink depending on the temperature and pressure of their surroundings.
FLOW-3D animation showing the temperature of the heated plate along with the creation, evolution and subsequent collapse of the bubble from multiple angles.