(105g) The Role of Viscoelasticity in Bubble Breaking

Authors: 
Grizzuti, N. - Presenter, University of Naples Federico II
Tammaro, D., University of Naples Federico II
Pasquino, R., University of Naples Federico II
Villone, M. M., University of Naples Federico II
D’Avino, G., University of Naples Federico II
Di Maio, E., University of Naples Federico II
Fraldi, M., University of Naples
Langella, A., University of Naples
Maffettone, P. L., University of Naples Federico II
The rupture dynamics of a bubble affects many phenomena in nature, e.g., magma fragmentation in volcanology, the opening of vesicles in medicine, and many processing technologies from the production of polymeric foams to the cooking of pancakes1-2. If the bubble is made of a viscoelastic fluid, it can store elastic energy during inflation that can be released during rupture, in turn affecting the breaking dynamics. In the present contribution, we investigate experimentally the way elastic energy (stored as a consequence of fast bubble inflation) drives rupture in a model viscoelastic fluid. A viscoelastic bubble is created via a pump and a homemade inflating system, a hot needle induces rupture and a fast camera is used to acquire images of the hole opening over time. The roles of the extensional rate and of the stored elastic energy on bubble rupture are investigated, and a new mathematical model to describe the rupture phenomenon is developed.

[1] de Gennes PG, Brochard-Wyart F and Quéré D, Capillarity and Wetting Phenomena, Springer (2004).

[2] Eggers J and Villermaux E, Physics of liquid jets, Rep. Prog. Phys., 71, 036601 (2008).

Topics: 
Materials