Influence of the elastic deformation of a foam on its mobility in channels of linearly varying width

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2014 Aug;90(2):023006. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.90.023006. Epub 2014 Aug 13.

Abstract

We study foam flow in an elementary model porous medium consisting of a convergent and a divergent channel positioned side by side and possessing a fixed joint porosity. Configurations of converging or diverging channels are ubiquitous at the pore scale in porous media, as all channels linking pores possess a converging and diverging part. The resulting flow kinematics imposes asymmetric bubble deformations in the two channels, which modulate foam-wall friction and strongly impact the flux distribution. We measure, as well as quantitatively predict, the ratio of the fluxes in the two channels as a function of the channel widths by modeling pressure drops of both viscous and capillary origins. This study reveals the crucial importance of boundary-induced bubble deformation on the mobility of a flowing foam, resulting in particular in flow irreversibility.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Elasticity
  • Linear Models
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Motion*
  • Porosity*
  • Pressure
  • Viscosity