Fluid Dynamics of Bubbly Liquids
Experiments have been performed to study the average flow properties of inertially dominated bubbly liquids which may be described by a novel analysis. Bubbles with high Reynolds number and low Weber number may produce a fluid velocity disturbance that can be approximated by a potential flow. We studied the behavior of suspensions of bubbles of about 1.5 mm diameter in vertical and inclined channels. The suspension was produced using a bank of 900 glass capillaries with inner diameter of about 100 microns in a quasi-steady fashion. In addition, salt was added to the suspension to prevent bubble-bubble coalescence. As a result, a nearly monodisperse suspension of bubble was produced. By increasing the inclination angle, we were able to explore an increasing amount of shear to buoyancy motion. A pipe flow experiment with the liquid being recirculated is under construction. This will provide an even larger range of shear to buoyancy motion. We are planning a microgravity experiment in which a bubble suspension is subjected to shearing in a couette cell in the absence of a buoyancy-driven relative motion of the two phases. By employing a single-wire, hot film anemometer, we were able to obtain the liquid velocity fluctuations. The shear stress at the wall was measured using a hot film probe flush mounted on the wall. The gas volume fraction, bubble velocity, and bubble velocity fluctuations were measured using a homemade, dual impedance probe. In addition, we also employed a high-speed camera to obtain the bubble size distribution and bubble shape in a dilute suspension. A rapid decrease in bubble velocity for a dilute bubble suspension is attributed to the effects of bubble-wall collisions. The more gradual decrease of bubble velocity as gas volume fraction increases, due to subsequent hindering of bubble motion, is in qualitative agreement with the predictions of Spelt and Sangani for the effects of potential-flow bubble-bubble interactions on the mean velocity. The ratio of the bubble velocity variance to the square of the mean is 0(0.1). For these conditions Spelt and Sangani predicted that the homogeneous suspension would be unstable and clustering into horizontal rafts will take place. Evidence for bubble clustering is obtained by analysis of video images. The liquid velocity variance is larger than would be expected for a homogeneous suspension and the liquid velocity frequency spectrum indicates the presence of velocity fluctuations that are slow compared with the time for the passage of an individual bubble. These observations provide further evidence for bubble clustering.