Three-dimensional foam flow resolved by fast X-ray tomographic microscopy

Abstract

Thanks to ultra fast and high resolution X-ray tomography, we managed to capture the evolution of the local structure of the bubble network of a 3D foam flowing around a sphere. As for the 2D foam flow around a circular obstacle, we observed an axisymmetric velocity field with a recirculation zone, and indications of a negative wake downstream the obstacle. The bubble deformations, quantified by a shape tensor, are smaller than in 2D, due to a purely 3D feature: the azimuthal bubble shape variation. Moreover, we were able to detect plastic rearrangements, characterized by the neighbor-swapping of four bubbles. Their spatial structure suggest that rearrangements are triggered when films faces get smaller than a characteristic area.

5 pages, 5 figures

References in corpus (4)

• Discrete rearranging disordered patterns, part I: Robust statistical tools in two or three dimensions
• Two-dimensional flow of foam around a circular obstacle: local measurements of elasticity, plasticity and flow
• Yield drag in a two-dimensional foam flow around a circular obstacle: Effect of liquid fraction
• Investigation of shear banding in three-dimensional foams

Cited by in corpus (1)

• Multiscale stress dynamics in sheared liquid foams revealed by tomo-rheoscopy