Expansion of a compressible gas bubble in Stokes flow

• Published in: Journal of fluid mechanics Vol. 442; pp. 171 - 189
• Main Author: POZRIKIDIS, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge, UK Cambridge University Press 10.09.2001
• Subjects: Cavitation; Deformation; Drops and bubbles; Exact sciences and technology; Fluid dynamics; Free surfaces; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); Laminar flows; Laminar flows in cavities; Laminar suspensions; Nonhomogeneous flows; Physics; Surface tension; Gas liquid interface; Compressible fluid; Geometrical shape; Bubbles; Low Reynolds number; Shear flow; Digital simulation; Elongational flow; Viscous non viscous interaction; Stokes flow
• ISSN: 0022-1120; 1469-7645
• DOI: 10.1017/S0022112001004992

The flow-induced deformation of an inviscid bubble occupied by a compressible gas and suspended in an ambient viscous liquid is considered at low Reynolds numbers with particular reference to the pressure developing inside the bubble. Ambient fluid motion alters the bubble pressure with respect to that established in the quiescent state, and requires the bubble to expand or contract according to an assumed equation of state. When changes in the bubble volume are prohibited by a global constraint on the total volume of the flow, the ambient pressure is modified while the bubble pressure remains constant during the deformation. A numerical method is developed for evaluating the pressure inside a two-dimensional bubble in an ambient Stokes flow on the basis of the normal component of the interfacial force balance involving the capillary pressure, the normal viscous stress, and the pressure at the free surface on the side of the liquid; the last is computed by evaluating a strongly singular integral. Dynamical simulations of bubble deformation are performed using the boundary integral method properly implemented to remove the multiplicity of solutions due to the a priori unknown rate of expansion, and three particular problems are discussed in detail: the shrinkage of a bubble at a specified rate, the deformation of a bubble subject to simple shear flow, and the deformation of a bubble subject to a purely elongational flow. In the case of shrinkage, it is found that the surface tension plays a critical role in determining the behaviour of the bubble pressure near the critical time when the bubble disappears. In the case of shear or elongational flow, it is found that the bubble contracts during an initial period of deformation from the circular shape, and then it expands to obtain a stationary shape whose area is higher than that assumed in the quiescent state. Expansion may destabilize the bubble by raising the capillary number above the critical threshold under which stationary shapes can be found.