Abstract: The injection of gas bubbles into a turbulent boundary layer of a liquid phase has multiple different impacts on the original flow structure. Frictional drag reduction is a phenomenon resulting from their combined effects. This explains why a number of different void–drag reduction relationships have been reported to date, while early works pursued a simple universal mechanism. In the last 15 years, a series of precisely designed experimentations has led to the conclusion that the frictional drag reduction by bubble injection has multiple manifestations dependent on bubble size and flow speed. The phenomena are classified into several regimes of two-phase interaction mechanisms. Each regime has inherent physics of bubbly liquid, highlighted by keywords such as bubbly mixture rheology, the spectral response of bubbles in turbulence, buoyancy-dominated bubble behavior, and gas cavity breakup. Among the regimes, bubbles in some selected situations lose the drag reduction effect owing to extra momentum transfer promoted by their active motions. This separates engineers into two communities: those studying small bubbles for high-speed flow applications and those studying large bubbles for low-speed flow applications. This article reviews the roles of bubbles in drag reduction, which have been revealed from fundamental studies of simplified flow geometries and from development of measurement techniques that resolve the inner layer structure of bubble-mixed turbulent boundary layers.

Abstract: Material pitting from cavitation bubble collapse is investigated numerically including two-way fluid–structure interaction (FSI). A hybrid numerical approach which links an incompressible boundary element method (BEM) solver and a compressible finite difference flow solver is applied to capture non-spherical bubble dynamics efficiently and accurately. The flow codes solve the fluid dynamics while intimately coupling the solution with a finite element structure code to enable simulation of the full FSI. During bubble collapse high impulsive pressures result from the impact of the bubble re-entrant jet on the material surface and from the collapse of the remaining bubble ring. A pit forms on the material surface when the impulsive pressure is large enough to result in high equivalent stresses exceeding the material yield stress. The results depend on bubble dynamics parameters such as the size of the bubble at its maximum volume, the bubble standoff distance from the material wall, and the pressure driving the bubble collapse. The effects of these parameters on the re-entrant jet, the following bubble ring collapse pressure, and the generated material pit characteristics are investigated.

Abstract: The numerical approaches have been used in many studies to predict the flow pattern inside the bubble column reactors because of the difficulties that are still found in designing and scaling-up the bubble columns. This review makes an effort to show suitable interfacial forces i.e., drag force, lift force, turbulent dispersion models and virtual mass and turbulence models such as standard k–ɛ model, Reynolds Stress Model, Large Eddy Simulation to predict flow pattern inside the bubble column using Eulerian–Eulerian. The effect of various interfacial forces and turbulence models on gas–liquid velocity and gas hold-up in bubble column is critically reviewed.

Abstract: We present a theoretical analysis and experimental demonstration of particle trapping and manipulation around optothermally generated bubbles. We show that a particle located within 500 μm of a surface bubble can be attracted towards a bubble by drag force resulting from a convective flow. Once the particle comes in contact with the bubble's surface, a balance between surface tension forces and pressure forces traps the particle on the bubble surface, allowing the particle to move with the bubble without detaching. The proposed mechanism is confirmed by computational fluid dynamics simulations, force calculations, and experiments. Based on this mechanism, we experimentally demonstrated a novel approach for manipulating microparticles via optothermally generated bubbles. Using this approach, randomly distributed microparticles were effectively collected and carried to predefined locations. Single particles were also manipulated along prescribed trajectories. This bubble-based particle trapping and manipulation technique can be useful in applications such as micro assembly, particle concentration, and high-precision particle separation.

Abstract: Bubble propulsion and self-diffusiophoresis are two common mechanisms that can drive autonomous motion of microparticles in hydrogen peroxide. Although microtubular particles, when coated with platinum in their interior concave surfaces, can propel due to the formation and release of bubbles from one end, the convex Janus particles usually do not generate any visible bubble. They move primarily due to the self-diffusiophoresis. Coincidentally, the platinum films on those particles were typically coated by physical evaporation. In this paper, we use a simple chemical deposition method to make platinum–polystyrene Janus dimers. Surprisingly, those particles are propelled by periodic growth and collapse of bubbles on the platinum-coated lobes. We find that both high catalytic activity and rough surface are necessary to change the propulsion mode from self-diffusiophoresis to bubble propulsion. Our Janus dimers, with combined geometric and interfacial anisotropy, also exhibit distinctive motions at the respec...

Abstract: We investigate the dissociation of methane hydrate in liquid water using molecular dynamics simulations. As dissociation of the hydrate proceeds, methane molecules are released into the aqueous phase and eventually they form bubbles. It is shown that this bubble formation, which causes change in the methane concentration in the aqueous phase, significantly affects the dissociation kinetics of methane hydrate. A large system size employed in this study makes it possible to analyze the effects of the change in the methane concentration and the formation of bubbles on the dissociation kinetics in detail. It is found that the dissociation rate decreases with time until the bubble formation and then it turns to increase. It is also demonstrated that methane hydrate can exist as a metastable superheated solid if there exists no bubble.

Abstract: Bubble dynamics near a rigid boundary are associated with wide and important applications in cavitation erosion in many industrial systems and medical ultrasonics. This classical problem is revisited with the following two developments. Firstly, computational studies on the problem have commonly been based on an incompressible fluid model, but the compressible effects are essential in this phenomenon. Consequently, a bubble usually undergoes significantly damped oscillation in practice. In this paper this phenomenon will be modelled using weakly compressible theory and a modified boundary integral method for an axisymmetric configuration, which predicts the damped oscillation. Secondly, the computational studies so far have largely been concerned with the first cycle of oscillation. However, a bubble usually oscillates for a few cycles before it breaks into much smaller ones. Cavitation erosion may be associated with the recollapse phase when the bubble is initiated more than the maximum bubble radius away from the boundary. Both the first and second cycles of oscillation will be modelled. The toroidal bubble formed towards the end of the collapse phase is modelled using a vortex ring model. The repeated topological changes of the bubble are traced from a singly connected to a doubly connected form, and vice versa. This model considers the energy loss due to shock waves emitted at minimum bubble volumes during the beginning of the expansion phase and around the end of the collapse phase. It predicts damped oscillations, where both the maximum bubble radius and the oscillation period reduce significantly from the first to second cycles of oscillation. The damping of the bubble oscillation is alleviated by the existence of the rigid boundary and reduces with the standoff distance between them. Our computations correlate well with the experimental data (Philipp & Lauterborn, J. Fluid Mech., vol. 361, 1998, pp. 75‐116) for both the first and second cycles of oscillation. We have successively reproduced the bubble ring in direct contact with the rigid boundary at the end of the second collapse phase, a phenomenon that was suggested to be one of the major causes of cavitation erosion by experimental studies.

Abstract: The most common method to generate optic cavitation involves the focusing of short-pulsed lasers in a transparent liquid media. In this work, we review a novel method of optic cavitation that uses low power CW lasers incident in highly absorbing liquids. This novel method of cavitation is called thermocavitation. Light absorbed heats up the liquid beyond its boiling temperature (spinodal limit) in a time span of microseconds to milliseconds (depending on the optical intensity). Once the liquid is heated up to its spinodal limit (∼300 °C for pure water), the superheated water becomes unstable to random density fluctuations and an explosive phase transition to vapor takes place producing a fast-expanding vapor bubble. Eventually, the bubble collapses emitting a strong shock-wave. The bubble is always attached to the surface taking a semi-spherical shape, in contrast to that produced by pulsed lasers in transparent liquids, where the bubble is produced at the focal point. Using high speed video (105 frames/s), we study the bubble’s dynamic behavior. Finally, we show that heat diffusion determines the water superheated volume and, therefore, the amplitude of the shock wave. A full experimental characterization of thermocavitation is described.

Abstract: Bubbles at a free surface usually burst in ejecting myriads of droplets. Focusing on the bubble bursting jet, prelude for these aerosols, we propose a simple scaling for the jet velocity and we unravel experimentally the intricate roles of bubble shape, capillary waves, gravity, and liquid properties. We demonstrate that droplets ejection unexpectedly changes with liquid properties. In particular, using damping action of viscosity, self-similar collapse can be sheltered from capillary ripples and continue closer to the singular limit, therefore producing faster and smaller droplets. These results pave the road to the control of the bursting bubble aerosols.

Abstract: When a bubble bursts on reaching a surface, mass transfer from the liquid to the gas phase can occur—aerosol dispersion. Now, the inverse transport process is reported: submicrometre-sized oil droplets, formed during bubble-bursting, are zipped across the interface to the liquid phase.

Abstract: In the present paper, the structure of the mean separation bubble downstream of the backward-facing step is studied at large Reynolds numbers. The flow over the step at these Reynolds numbers is turbulent with the presence of unsteady large-scale structures. There is however a well-defined time-averaged mean separation bubble. We study the effect of Reynolds number and expansion ratio on the structure of this mean separation bubble, the expansion ratio being the primary geometrical parameter in this case. Using PIV measurements within the separation bubble, parameters such as the reattachment length, mean velocity field, and the turbulent stresses are systematically mapped out. These measurements show that there exists a high Reynolds number separation bubble structure that is nearly independent of both Reynolds number and expansion ratio, as long as the Reynolds numbers are large (Re > 36,000 based on step height). Within this large Reynolds number separation bubble, the normalized mean velocity field and the normalized turbulent stresses are found to be similar for all expansion ratio cases studied. Using these measurements, the streamwise force balance of the mean separation bubble is studied. The analysis of the data shows that in this case, the contribution to the streamwise force from both the Reynolds normal and shear stress is significant, although the Reynolds shear stress contribution is larger. Differences in the force contributions from other geometries are highlighted.

Abstract: Liquid–bubble interaction, especially in complex two-phase bubbly flow under breaking waves, is still poorly understood. In the present study, we perform a large-eddy simulation using a Navier–Stokes solver extended to incorporate entrained bubble populations, using an Eulerian–Eulerian formulation for a polydisperse bubble phase. The volume-of-fluid method is used for free-surface tracking. We consider an isolated unsteady deep water breaking event generated by a focused wavepacket. Bubble contributions to dissipation and momentum transfer between the water and air phases are considered. The model is shown to predict free-surface evolution, mean and turbulent velocities, and integral properties of the entrained dispersed bubbles fairly well. We investigate turbulence modulation by dispersed bubbles as well as shear- and bubble-induced dissipation, in both spilling and plunging breakers. We find that the total bubble-induced dissipation accounts for more than 50 % of the total dissipation in the breaking region. The average dissipation rate per unit length of breaking crest is usually written as , where is the water density, is the gravitational acceleration and is the phase speed of the breaking wave. The breaking parameter, , has been poorly constrained by experiments and field measurements. We examine the time-dependent evolution of for both constant-steepness and constant-amplitude wavepackets. A scaling law for the averaged breaking parameter is obtained. The exact two-phase transport equation for turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) is compared with the conventional single-phase transport equation, and it is found that the former overpredicts the total subgrid-scale dissipation and turbulence production by mean shear during active breaking. All of the simulations are also repeated without the inclusion of a dispersed bubble phase, and it is shown that the integrated TKE in the breaking region is damped by the dispersed bubbles by approximately 20 % for a large plunging breaker to 50 % for spilling breakers. In the plunging breakers, the TKE is damped slightly or even enhanced during the initial stage of active breaking.

Abstract: Bubble characteristics in a three-dimension gas-fluidized bed (FB) have been measured using noninvasive ultrafast electron beam X-ray tomography. The measurements are compared with predictions by a two-fluid model (TFM) based on kinetic theory of granular flow. The effect of bed material (glass, alumina, and low linear density polyethylene (LLDPE), dp ∼1 mm), inlet gas velocity, and initial particle bed height on the bubble behavior is investigated in a cylindrical column of 0.1-m diameter. The bubble rise velocity is determined by cross correlation of images from dual horizontal planes. The bubble characteristics depend highly upon the particle collisional properties. The bubble sizes obtained from experiments and simulations show good agreement. The LLDPE particles show high gas hold-up and higher bubble rise velocity than predicted on basis of literature correlations. The bed expansion is relatively high for LLDPE particles. The X-ray tomography and TFM results provide in-depth understanding of bubble behavior in FBs containing different granular material types. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 60: 1632–1644, 2014

Abstract: When (long) bubbles are transported in tubes containing a fluid, the presence of a thin film of fluid along the tube walls causes the velocity of the bubble to be different from the average fluid velocity. Bretherton [“The motion of long bubbles in tubes,” J. Fluid Mech. 10, 166 (1961)] derived a model to describe this phenomenon for pressure driven flows based on a lubrication approach coupled with surface deformation of the bubble. Bretherton found that the parameter governing the physics involved is the capillary number (Ca) which expresses the relationship between speed of the bubble, surface tension, and viscosity of the liquid. The results of Bretherton are here re-derived and analyzed in a slightly more perspicuous manner. Incorporating the condition that the bubble-film combination should fit inside the tube results in an expression very similar to the one found empirically by Aussillous and Quere [“Quick deposition of a fluid on the wall of a tube,” Phys. Fluids 12, 2367 (2000)] of the Taylor [“D...

Abstract: Lipid-coated microbubbles are used clinically as contrast agents for ultrasound imaging and are being developed for a variety of therapeutic applications. The lipid encapsulation and shedding of the lipids by acoustic driving of the microbubble has a crucial role in microbubble stability and in ultrasound-triggered drug delivery; however, little is known about the dynamics of lipid shedding under ultrasound excitation. Here we describe a study that optically characterized the lipid shedding behavior of individual microbubbles on a time scale of nanoseconds to microseconds. A single ultrasound burst of 20 to 1000 cycles, with a frequency of 1 MHz and an acoustic pressure varying from 50 to 425 kPa, was applied. In the first step, high-speed fluorescence imaging was performed at 150,000 frames per second to capture the instantaneous dynamics of lipid shedding. Lipid detachment was observed within the first few cycles of ultrasound. Subsequently, the detached lipids were transported by the surrounding flow field, either parallel to the focal plane (in-plane shedding) or in a trajectory perpendicular to the focal plane (out-of-plane shedding). In the second step, the onset of lipid shedding was studied as a function of the acoustic driving parameters, for example, pressure, number of cycles, bubble size and oscillation amplitude. The latter was recorded with an ultrafast framing camera running at 10 million frames per second. A threshold for lipid shedding under ultrasound excitation was found for a relative bubble oscillation amplitude >30%. Lipid shedding was found to be reproducible, indicating that the shedding event can be controlled.