Instabilities of two-phase flows in short rectangular microchannels

Two-phase (liquid-gas) flows in a short horizontal slit channel of rectangular cross section with heights (thicknesses) from 100 to 500 μm have been experimentally studied using the laser-induced fluorescence and schlieren photography methods. It is established that the formation of various two-phase flow regimes and the transitions between different regimes are determined by instabilities of the liquid-gas flow in the side parts of a channel. In a 100-μm-thick channel, a frontal instability has been observed during the liquid-gas interaction in the region of liquid output from the nozzle.