9727087 Sarma Description: This award is for a joint project in mechanical engineering entitled "US-India Cooperative Research: Two Phase Flow Instabilities in Boiling & Condensing Flow Systems". The co-investigators are Sadik Kakac of the University of Miami and P.K. Sarma of Andhra University in Visakhaputnam. The investigations on two-phase flow instabilities and heat transfer in horizontal in-tube boiling and condensing systems are experimental and theoretical. The main objectives of the research are to study the fundamental mechanisms of various boiling and condensing two- phase flow instabilities, the parametric effects on these instabilities, the interaction between heat transfer and these instabilities, and to model these complicated phenomena mathematically. By combining their expertise, the investigators expect to be able to reveal the similar fundamental physical mechanism of both boiling and condensing flows dynamics and heat transfer, and to further clarify the differences between the two physical phenomena. Scope: This joint project resulted from an NSF supported workshop held at Andhra University in 1995. The research is complementary and mutually beneficial. The US PI has extensive research experience in the study of boiling flow instabilities and oscillations; while the Indian PI has extensive experience in the study of condensing heat transfer and dynamics. Accordingly, experiments in boiling two-phase flow instabilities will be conducted at Miami, while the two-phase flow condensation instabilities and heat transfer experiments will be done at Andhra. Research teams at both universities will participate in each other's experimental investigations, and in the theoretical model development. As a new collaboration and for its involvement of students in the research, this project supports INT objectives. ***
