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Surface bubble coalescence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2021

Daniel B. Shaw Open the ORCID record for Daniel B. Shaw [Opens in a new window]  and
Luc Deike Open the ORCID record for Luc Deike [Opens in a new window]
Daniel B. Shaw
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
Luc Deike*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
*
†Email address for correspondence: ldeike@princeton.edu
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Abstract

We present an experimental study of bubble coalescence at an air–water interface and characterize the evolution of both the underwater neck and the surface bridge. We explore a wide range of Bond number, $Bo$, which compares gravity and capillary forces and is a dimensionless measure of the free surface's effect on bubble geometry. The nearly spherical $Bo\ll 1$ bubbles exhibit the same inertial–capillary growth of the classic underwater dynamics, with limited upper surface displacement. For $Bo>1$, the bubbles are non-spherical – residing predominantly above the free surface – and, while an inertial–capillary scaling for the underwater neck growth is still observed, the controlling length scale is defined by the curvature of the bubbles near their contact region. With it, an inertial–capillary scaling collapses the neck contours across all Bond numbers to a universal shape. Finally, we characterize the upper surface with a simple oscillatory model which balances capillary forces and the inertia of liquid trapped at the centre of the liquid-film surface.

JFM classification

Drops and Bubbles: Breakup/coalescence Drops and Bubbles: Bubble dynamics Waves/Free-surface Flows: Capillary waves

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Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 915 , 25 May 2021 , A105
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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References

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Shaw and Deike supplemementay movie 1

Surface bubble coalescence as viewed from above and below the free surface.

Download Shaw and Deike supplemementay movie 1(Video)
Video 44.2 MB

Shaw and Deike supplemementay movie 2

Retraction of the film separating two parent surface bubbles at the start of coalescence.

Download Shaw and Deike supplemementay movie 2(Video)
Video 5.4 MB