Coalescence of bubbles and drops in an outer fluid

Joseph D. Paulsen (), Rémi Carmigniani, Anerudh Kannan, Justin C. Burton and Sidney R. Nagel
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Joseph D. Paulsen: The James Franck and Enrico Fermi Institutes, The University of Chicago
Rémi Carmigniani: The James Franck and Enrico Fermi Institutes, The University of Chicago
Anerudh Kannan: The James Franck and Enrico Fermi Institutes, The University of Chicago
Justin C. Burton: The James Franck and Enrico Fermi Institutes, The University of Chicago
Sidney R. Nagel: The James Franck and Enrico Fermi Institutes, The University of Chicago

Nature Communications, 2014, vol. 5, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract When two liquid drops touch, a microscopic connecting liquid bridge forms and rapidly grows as the two drops merge into one. Whereas coalescence has been thoroughly studied when drops coalesce in vacuum or air, many important situations involve coalescence in a dense surrounding fluid, such as oil coalescence in brine. Here we study the merging of gas bubbles and liquid drops in an external fluid. Our data indicate that the flows occur over much larger length scales in the outer fluid than inside the drops themselves. Thus, we find that the asymptotic early regime is always dominated by the viscosity of the drops, independent of the external fluid. A phase diagram showing the crossovers into the different possible late-time dynamics identifies a dimensionless number that signifies when the external viscosity can be important.

Date: 2014
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:5:y:2014:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms4182

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DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4182

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