Empirical modeling and hybrid machine learning framework for nucleate pool boiling on microchannel structured surfaces

Abstract: Micro-structured surfaces influence nucleation characteristics and bubble dynamics besides increasing the heat transfer surface area, thus enabling efficient nucleate boiling heat transfer. Modeling the pool boiling heat transfer characteristics of these surfaces under varied conditions is essential in diverse applications. A new empirical correlation for nucleate boiling on microchannel structured surfaces has been proposed with the data collected from various experiments in previous studies since the existing correlations are limited by their accuracy and narrow operating ranges. This study also examines various Machine Learning (ML) algorithms and Deep Neural Networks (DNN) on the microchannel structured surfaces dataset to predict the nucleate pool boiling Heat Transfer Coefficient (HTC). With the aim to integrate both the ML and domain knowledge, a Physics-Informed Machine Learning Aided Framework (PIMLAF) is proposed. The proposed correlation in this study is employed as the prior physics-based model for PIMLAF, and a DNN is employed to model the residuals of the prior model. This hybrid framework achieved the best performance in comparison to the other ML models and DNNs. This framework is able to generalize well for different datasets because the proposed correlation provides the baseline knowledge of the boiling behavior. Also, SHAP interpretation analysis identifies the critical parameters impacting the model predictions and their effect on HTC prediction. This analysis further makes the model more robust and reliable. Keywords: Pool boiling, Microchannels, Heat transfer coefficient, Correlation analysis, Machine learning, Deep neural network, Physics-informed machine learning aided framework, SHAP analysis