3D simulations of wet foam coarsening evidence a self similar growth regime

• Published in: Colloids and surfaces. A, Physicochemical and engineering aspects Physicochemical and engineering aspects, 2015-05, Vol.473, p.109-114
• Main Authors: Thomas, Gilberto L., Belmonte, Julio M., Graner, François, Glazier, James A., de Almeida, Rita M.C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Foam coarsening; Liquid foams; Potts model simulations
• ISSN: 0927-7757; 1873-4359
• DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfa.2015.02.015

[Display omitted] •We show Potts model may simulate coarsening of 3D wet foams.•We obtain the growth exponents for liquid fractions of 0.0, 0.05 and 0.20.•The overlapping of distribution functions indicates that the systems attain a scaling regime. In wet liquid foams, slow diffusion of gas through bubble walls changes bubble pressure, volume and wall curvature. Large bubbles grow at the expenses of smaller ones. The smaller the bubble, the faster it shrinks. As the number of bubbles in a given volume decreases in time, the average bubble size increases: i.e. the foam coarsens. During coarsening, bubbles also move relative to each other, changing bubble topology and shape, while liquid moves within the regions separating the bubbles. Analyzing the combined effects of these mechanisms requires examining a volume with enough bubbles to provide appropriate statistics throughout coarsening. Using a Cellular Potts model, we simulate these mechanisms during the evolution of three-dimensional foams with wetnesses of ϕ=0.00, 0.05 and 0.20. We represent the liquid phase as an ensemble of many small fluid particles, which allows us to monitor liquid flow in the region between bubbles. The simulations begin with 2×105 bubbles for ϕ=0.00 and 1.25×105 bubbles for ϕ=0.05 and 0.20, allowing us to track the distribution functions for bubble size, topology and growth rate over two and a half decades of volume change. All simulations eventually reach a self-similar growth regime, with the distribution functions time independent and the number of bubbles decreasing with time as a power law whose exponent depends on the wetness.