Effects of Surfactant on the Motion of a Large Bubble in a Capillary Tube

Author(s):  
Gokalp Gursel ◽  
Ufuk Olgac ◽  
Metin Muradoglu

The finite-difference/front-tracking method is used to study the motion and deformation of a large bubble moving through a capillary tube in the presence of both insoluble and soluble surfactants. Emphasis is placed on the effects of surfactant on the liquid film thickness between the bubble and the tube wall. The numerical method is designed to solve the evolution equations of the interfacial and bulk surfactant concentrations coupled with the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations. A non-linear equation of state is used to relate interfacial surface tension to surfactant concentration at the interface. The film thickness is first computed for the clean bubble case and the results are compared with the lubrication theory in the limit of small capillary numbers, i.e., Ca ≪ 1, and found to be in good agreement with the predictions of Bretherton [1]. Thereafter, the method is used to investigate the effects of insoluble and soluble surfactants on the film thickness for a wide range of governing non-dimensional numbers. It is found that both the insoluble and soluble surfactants have a thickening effect on the liquid film, which compares well with both the experimental results of Krechetnikov and Homsy [2] and analytical predictions of Daripa and Pasa [3].

2019 ◽  
Vol 872 ◽  
pp. 407-437 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Muradoglu ◽  
F. Romanò ◽  
H. Fujioka ◽  
J. B. Grotberg

Surfactant-laden liquid plug propagation and rupture occurring in lower lung airways are studied computationally using a front-tracking method. The plug is driven by an applied constant pressure in a rigid axisymmetric tube whose inner surface is coated by a thin liquid film. The evolution equations of the interfacial and bulk surfactant concentrations coupled with the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations are solved in the front-tracking framework. The numerical method is first validated for a surfactant-free case and the results are found to be in good agreement with the earlier simulations of Fujioka et al. (Phys. Fluids, vol. 20, 2008, 062104) and Hassan et al. (Intl J. Numer. Meth. Fluids, vol. 67, 2011, pp. 1373–1392). Then extensive simulations are performed to investigate the effects of surfactant on the mechanical stresses that could be injurious to epithelial cells, such as pressure and shear stress. It is found that the liquid plug ruptures violently to induce large pressure and shear stress on airway walls and even a tiny amount of surfactant significantly reduces the pressure and shear stress and thus improves cell survivability. However, addition of surfactant also delays the plug rupture and thus airway reopening.


Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 841
Author(s):  
Yuzhen Jin ◽  
Huang Zhou ◽  
Linhang Zhu ◽  
Zeqing Li

A three-dimensional numerical study of a single droplet splashing vertically on a liquid film is presented. The numerical method is based on the finite volume method (FVM) of Navier–Stokes equations coupled with the volume of fluid (VOF) method, and the adaptive local mesh refinement technology is adopted. It enables the liquid–gas interface to be tracked more accurately, and to be less computationally expensive. The relationship between the diameter of the free rim, the height of the crown with different numbers of collision Weber, and the thickness of the liquid film is explored. The results indicate that the crown height increases as the Weber number increases, and the diameter of the crown rim is inversely proportional to the collision Weber number. It can also be concluded that the dimensionless height of the crown decreases with the increase in the thickness of the dimensionless liquid film, which has little effect on the diameter of the crown rim during its growth.


2009 ◽  
Vol 635 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICOLAS PÉRINET ◽  
DAMIR JURIC ◽  
LAURETTE S. TUCKERMAN

We simulate numerically the full dynamics of Faraday waves in three dimensions for two incompressible and immiscible viscous fluids. The Navier–Stokes equations are solved using a finite-difference projection method coupled with a front-tracking method for the interface between the two fluids. The critical accelerations and wavenumbers, as well as the temporal behaviour at onset are compared with the results of the linear Floquet analysis of Kumar & Tuckerman (J. Fluid Mech., vol. 279, 1994, p. 49). The finite-amplitude results are compared with the experiments of Kityk et al (Phys. Rev. E, vol. 72, 2005, p. 036209). In particular, we reproduce the detailed spatio-temporal spectrum of both square and hexagonal patterns within experimental uncertainty. We present the first calculations of a three-dimensional velocity field arising from the Faraday instability for a hexagonal pattern as it varies over its oscillation period.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 936-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. F. Dong ◽  
M. A. Ebadian

This paper numerically investigates the effects of buoyancy on fully developed laminar flow in a curved duct with an elliptic cross section. The flow of Newtonian fluids is assumed steady in terms of Boussinesq approximation. The curved elliptic duct is subjected to thermal boundary conditions of axially uniform heat flux and peripherally uniform wall temperature. The numerically generated boundary-fitted coordinate system is applied to discretize the solution domain of the elliptic duct, and the Navier-Stokes equations and the energy equation, including the curvature ratio, are solved by use of the control volume-based finite difference method. The solution covers a wide range of curvature ratios, and Dean and Grashof numbers. The results presented are displayed graphically and in tabular form to illustrate the buoyancy effect. It is further shown that buoyancy acts to increase both the Nusselt number and the friction factor and changes the distribution of the velocity and the temperature. The results for the curved circular duct with and without buoyancy are compared with the data available in the open literature for all cases. Also compared with the published data are the results of laminar flow in a curved elliptic duct, and very good agreement is obtained.


2018 ◽  
Vol 856 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Borgnino ◽  
G. Boffetta ◽  
F. De Lillo ◽  
M. Cencini

We study the dynamics and the statistics of dilute suspensions of gyrotactic swimmers, a model for many aquatic motile microorganisms. By means of extensive numerical simulations of the Navier–Stokes equations at different Reynolds numbers, we investigate preferential sampling and small-scale clustering as a function of the swimming (stability and speed) and shape parameters, considering in particular the limits of spherical and rod-like particles. While spherical swimmers preferentially sample local downwelling flow, for elongated swimmers we observe a transition from downwelling to upwelling regions at sufficiently high swimming speed. The spatial distribution of both spherical and elongated swimmers is found to be fractal at small scales in a wide range of swimming parameters. The direct comparison between the different shapes shows that spherical swimmers are more clusterized at small stability and speed numbers, while for large values of the parameters elongated cells concentrate more. The relevance of our results for phytoplankton swimming in the ocean is briefly discussed.


Author(s):  
K. Singh ◽  
M. Sharabi ◽  
R. Jefferson-Loveday ◽  
S. Ambrose ◽  
C. Eastwick ◽  
...  

Abstract In the case of aero-engine, thin lubricating film servers dual purpose of lubrication and cooling. Prediction of dry patches or lubricant starved region in bearing or bearing chambers are required for safe operation of these components. In the present work thin liquid film flow is numerically investigated using the framework of the Eulerian thin film model (ETFM) for conditions which exhibit partial wetting phenomenon. This model includes a parameter that requires adjustment to account for the dynamic contact angle. Two different experimental data sets have been used for comparisons against simulations, which cover a wide range of operating conditions including varying the flow rate, inclination angle, contact angle, and liquid-gas surface tension coefficient. A new expression for the model parameter has been proposed and calibrated based on the simulated cases. This is employed to predict film thickness on a bearing chamber which is subjected to a complex multiphase flow. From this study, it is observed that the proposed approach shows good quantitative comparisons of the film thickness of flow down an inclined plate and for the representative bearing chamber. A comparison of model predictions with and without wetting and drying capabilities is also presented on the bearing chamber for shaft speed in the range of 2,500 RPM to 10,000 RPM and flow rate in the range of 0.5 liter per minute (LPM) to 2.5 LPM.


1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (4) ◽  
pp. 930-936 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Mosher ◽  
D. W. Childs

This research investigates the effect of varying the concentric recess pressure ratio of hybrid (combination hydrostatic and hydrodynamic) bearings to be used in high-speed, high-pressure applications. Bearing flowrate, load capacity, torque, rotordynamic coefficients, and whirl frequency ratio are examined to determine the concentric, recess-pressure ratio which yields optimum bearing load capacity and dynamic stiffness. An analytical model, using two-dimensional bulk-flow Navier-Stokes equations and anchored by experimental test results, is used to examine bearing performance over a wide range of concentric recess pressure ratios. Typically, a concentric recess pressure ratio of 0.50 is used to obtain maximum bearing load capacity. This analysis reveals that theoretical optimum bearing performance occurs for a pressure ratio near 0.40, while experimental results indicate the optimum value to he somewhat higher than 0.45. This research demonstrates the ability to analytically investigate hybrid bearings and shows the need for more hybrid-bearing experimental data.


2015 ◽  
Vol 1105 ◽  
pp. 105-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Varvara Yu. Gordeeva ◽  
Andrey V. Lyushnin

Evaporation of a thin layer of a polar liquid (water) having a free surface and located on a solid substrate is investigated. A surfactant is solved in the liquid film. The surface tension is a linear function of the surface concentration of the surfactant. The surface energy of the solid-liquid interface is a nonmonotonic function of the layer thickness and is the sum of the Van der Waals interaction and the specific interaction of the double electric layer on the interface. The effect of the solvable surfactant on the dynamics of the propagation of the evaporation front in the thin liquid film is analyzed in the long-wave approximation in the system of Navier-Stokes equations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 96 (10) ◽  
pp. 1145-1154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ying Zhang ◽  
Wenqiang Shang ◽  
Mengjun Yao ◽  
Boheng Dong ◽  
Peisheng Li

Two-dimensional K-H (Kelvin–Helmholtz) instability of the three-component immiscible fluids with an intermediate fluid layer is numerically studied using the front-tracking method (FTM). The instability is governed by the Navier–Stokes equations and the conservation of mass equation for incompressible flow. A finite difference method is used to discretize the governing system. This study focuses on the influence of flow configuration, the thickness of intermediate fluid layer and the distribution of intermediate fluid layer on K-H instability. It is shown that the larger the initial horizontal velocity difference is, the faster the internal disturbance increases, and the characteristic form of K-H instability becomes more obvious for different flow configuration. It is also observed that the thickness of the intermediate fluid layer is negatively correlated to the billow height and the numerical growth rate. In addition, when the intermediate fluid layer is thicker than 0.4 times the disturbance wavelength, the billow height and the numerical growth rate for the K-H instability of the upper and lower interfaces change over time synchronously. The higher the initial height of the lower interface is, the greater the growth rate and billow height of the upper interface are. Besides, the upper and lower interfaces are rolled up synchronously over time when the intermediate fluid layer is symmetrically distributed with y = 0.5 in the fluid system.


2018 ◽  
Vol 855 ◽  
pp. 43-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ke Wu ◽  
Bruno D. Welfert ◽  
Juan M. Lopez

The dynamic response to shear of a fluid-filled square cavity with stable temperature stratification is investigated numerically. The shear is imposed by the constant translation of the top lid, and is quantified by the associated Reynolds number. The stratification, quantified by a Richardson number, is imposed by maintaining the temperature of the top lid at a higher constant temperature than that of the bottom, and the side walls are insulating. The Navier–Stokes equations under the Boussinesq approximation are solved, using a pseudospectral approximation, over a wide range of Reynolds and Richardson numbers. Particular attention is paid to the dynamical mechanisms associated with the onset of instability of steady state solutions, and to the complex and rich dynamics occurring beyond.


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