Adiabatic bubble growth in uniform DC electric fields

In the present work the influence of electric fields on the formation of single isolated bubbles growing under quasi-static conditions in HFE-7000 has been investigated experimentally with the aid of high speed photography and detailed image processing. An uncomplicated experimental apparatus has been commissioned which can simultaneously measure the internal gas pressure and shape of the bubble during its lifetime. The effect of uniform electric field has been investigated by applying high voltage potentials across the region within which the bubbles grew. In house image processing and analysis tools facilitated the estimation of the local instantaneous Young–Laplace stress over the entire bubble surface. By combining this information with the measurement of the instantaneous gas pressure, the electrically induced stress field acting on the gas–liquid interface was calculated and its influence on the bubble shape is discussed.