LAUSR

Abstract The spontaneous bubble migration and the active manipulation have widely applications in outer space. In this paper, the bubble migration driven by the thermal capillary effect is numerically investigated under variable buoyancy. The numerical model is built up through the transient two-dimensional axisymmetric model with a level set method. It is found that the magnitude and direction of bubble migration velocity is determined by the competition of upward buoyant effect and downward thermal capillary effect. These two effects can be controlled by changing the ratios of density, viscosity, thermal conductivity of bubble over surrounding liquid, as well as Reynolds number, Froude number, Peclet number and Marangoni number. With increasing Froude number or decreasing density ratio, the thermal capillary effect becomes dominant over the buoyant effect, the bubble will migrate from upward to downward. The Marangoni number has negligible effect on the bubble migration at low Reynolds numbers, while at high Reynolds numbers, increasing Marangoni number can reduce the upward migration velocity due to stronger thermal capillary effect. At low Reynolds numbers, with the increasing ratios of viscosity and thermal conductivity, the downward driving force is increased, while at high Reynolds numbers, the ratios have negligible effect on the bubble migration. These findings may provide the guidance for actively manipulating the bubbles under variable buoyancy.