EUROPHYSICS LETTERS

1 August 2002

Europhys. Lett., 59 (3), pp. 370376 (2002)

Bubbles creeping in a viscous liquid along a slightly inclined plane

P. Aussillous and D. Quere Laboratoire de Physique de la Mati`re Condense, URA 792 du CNRS e e Coll`ge de France - 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France e (received 1 February 2002; accepted in nal form 13 May 2002)
PACS. 47.15.Gf Low-Reynolds-number (creeping) ows. PACS. 68.15.+e Liquid thin lms. PACS. 83.50.Lh Slip boundary eects (interfacial and free surface ows).

Abstract. We describe the upwards movement of an air bubble creeping along a slightly inclined plane immersed in a viscous liquid which totally wets the solid. After characterizing the shape of the static bubble under a horizontal plane, we tilt the plane and study the resulting motion. The bubble reaches a steady velocity, which is described as a function of the bubble size, the liquid viscosity and the tilting angle. We interpret our results by considering the viscous dissipation in the so-called dynamic meniscus, which is the zone where a lubricating lm forms.

Introduction. We consider a tank lled with a viscous liquid, in which a bubble is introduced. If the upper boundary of the tank is tilted, the bubble creeps along this boundary once it has reached it (g. 1). In the (common) situation where the liquid totally wets the solid, a thin lubricating lm of thickness e forms between the bubble and the solid. We denote by V the bubble velocity and by the tilting angle of the solid. The bubble moves at a constant velocity and an interesting practical problem is to understand the source of dissipation. First, we study the shape of a bubble under a horizontal plane immersed in a uid. Then, we present measurements of creeping velocities, as a function of the bubble size, the nature of the liquid and the solid slope. Our experiment consists in placing in a tank of oil an air bubble of controlled size (we note R0 the initial radius) below a planar solid. This solid is a transparent polymer (PMMA) sheet, with millimetric graduations engraved on the top surface. Then, the solid is slightly tilted. We measure the position x of the front meniscus as a function of time, from which we deduce the bubble velocity (V = dx/dt). Each run is typically 10 cm long, and the velocity is found to be constant all along the run. The experimental error on the measurement of V is of the order of 1%. The liquid is a viscous silicone oil (viscosity = 970 mPa s, density = 970 kg/m3 ) of low surface tension ( = 20 mN/m). The oil completely wets the solid, so that the bubble is in a situation of non-wetting. This is conrmed by a direct observation. Side views of the bubble show that it joins the solid tangentially: the contact angle of the bubble on the solid is 180 (see g. 1). Furthermore, all the bubbles (even the smallest ones,
c EDP Sciences

P. Aussillous et al.: Bubbles creeping in a viscous liquid etc.

371

Fig. 1 An air bubble (of volume 200 l) creeping along an inclined plane in a viscous wetting liquid (silicone oil of viscosity 970 mPa s). The bar is 1.5 mm, which is the capillary length.

of the order of 100 m in size) were observed to move, which also proves a purely non-wetting behaviour: the contact-angle hysteresis associated with the existence of a contact line would necessarily stick such tiny bubbles. Static shape. The shape of the bubble under the solid results from a balance between the surface forces and Archimedes pressure. The relative importance of these forces can be understood by introducing the capillary length 1 = /g (1.5 mm in our experiments). Bubbles smaller than 1 adopt a spherical shape, and larger ones are attened by the action of gravity, forming what is sometimes called pancakes (see g. 1). In both cases, a contact can be dened as the portion of liquid/air interface parallel to the solid. We were interested in the radius of this contact, in the spirit of previous studies, either theoretical [1] or experimental [2], about the contact between non-wetting liquid drops and solid substrates. 1 ) is the simplest. As for liquids, gravity tends to The case of large bubbles (R0 atten such a bubble, which forms a pancake of thickness h. The thickness h results from a balance between gravity (which tends to make the pancake as thin as possible) and surface forces which have the opposite action [3]. In the particular case of non-wetting, the thickness is found to be simply 21 , twice the capillary length (3 mm in our experiments, which was easy to check). Conservation of the bubble volume (4R0 3 /3 = 2 2 1 , neglecting the bubble

10

0.1

0.01
0.1 1

Ro

10

Fig. 2 Radius of the contact zone as a function of the bubble size. Both lengths are scaled by the capillary length. The straight lines represent the slopes 2 and 1.5, as expected from eqs. (2) and (1).

372
100

EUROPHYSICS LETTERS

V (mm/s)
10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.0001 0.01

0.1

sin

Fig. 3 Creeping velocity of the bubble as a function of the plate slope. The black squares correspond to a large bubble (R0 = 6 mm) and the open ones to a small one (R0 = 0.3 mm). The straight lines, of respective slope 1.4 and 1.3, indicate that the dependence is not linear.

ends) immediately yields the contact size = 2 R0 3/2 . 3 1/2 (1)

On the other hand, a bubble smaller than the capillary length (R0 < 1 ) adopts a nearly spherical shape, except close to the top, where it is slightly deformed by Archimedes pressure, as stressed by Mahadevan and Pomeau [1]. The centre of mass of the bubble goes up by a small distance , which can be evaluated by balancing (dimensionally) the restoring capillary force with Archimedes force gR0 3 . Then, using the geometric relation 2 R0 gives, as a size for the contact, R0 2 1 . (2) Experimental results are found to be in good agreement with these predictions. Figure 2 shows the variation of the contact zone vs. the bubble size. It is observed that the contact successively scales as R0 2 and as R0 3/2 , below and above the capillary length. The best t with the data provides numerical coecients of 0.90 and 0.74, of the order of unity as expected. Creeping motion. E x p e r i m e n t a l o b s e r v a t i o n s. As soon as the plate is tilted by an angle , the bubble creeps upwards, driven by Archimedes force 4/3gR0 3 sin . If it were balanced by a viscous force of a Stokes type F1 V R, denoting by R the maximum size of the bubble (R R0 for small bubbles, and R R0 3/2 1/2 for large ones), this would provide a constant rise velocity proportional to sin . This is not the case, as can be observed in g. 3, where the creeping velocity is plotted vs. sin , for two dierent bubble sizes, and found to scale as sin1.4 for the pancake and as sin1.3 for the bubble. Similarly, taking for R the largest characteristic length of the bubble, we would expect from the same Stokes balance a velocity scaling as R0 3/2 for a pancake and as R0 2 for a spherical bubble. This is once again not observed, in particular for the pancakes, as reported in g. 4, where the creeping velocity is plotted vs. R0 , for two dierent angles. 1 ), the creeping velocity scales as R0 y , with y between In the pancake regime (R0 2.22 and 2.34. For smaller bubbles, it seems that the curve bends, and the power law could be

P. Aussillous et al.: Bubbles creeping in a viscous liquid etc.

373

100

V (mm/s)
10 1 0.1 0.01 0.001 0.0001
0.1 1

Ro (mm)

10

Fig. 4 Creeping velocity of a bubble vs. its initial size R0 (black squares: = 5.7 , open squares: = 1 ). For R0 > 1.5 mm (pancake regime), the data obey simple power laws (straight lines), yielding exponents of 2.22 and 2.34, much larger than 1.5, resulting from a simple Stokes law.

compatible with 2, the classical Stokes exponent. Note that this decrease of the characteristic exponent y is more sensible for the smallest slope (open squares). These dierent behaviours, which reveal a non-trivial law for the viscous force, can be analyzed by considering the lubricating lm which intercalates between the solid and the bubble. At a small velocity, we can consider that the bubble keeps its static shape, except in the region where the lm forms. S c a l i n g l a w s. We consider here the viscous dissipation associated with the formation of a lubricating lm between the pancake and the solid. As is usually done for characterizing such a lm, we work in the reference frame where the bubble is static. Then, the lm is deposited because of the motion of a solid at a speed V , as sketched in g. 5. This problem is quite similar to the entrainment of a liquid lm by a moving plate [4], or to the deposition of a lm behind a drop running in a tube [5,6] or in a Hele-Shaw cell [7]. At a small capillary number Ca (Ca = V /), the bubble is slightly deformed by the movement and the deposition process can be described by three zones: the lubrication lm of constant thickness e, a static meniscus of curvature of about h1 (the other curvature, of the order of 1 , is negligible for large pancakes), both being connected through a dynamic meniscus of length . The ow in the dynamic meniscus can be described by balancing the capillary force opposing the formation of the dynamic meniscus with the viscous force supplying the lm. The pressure dierence between the lm and the static meniscus is of the order of /h, i.e. , so

liquid air P~P0 - /h

P~P0 e h

Fig. 5 Zoom on the region where the lubricating lm forms, drawn in the reference frame of the moving bubble. is the length of the dynamic meniscus and the thin line indicates the position of the liquid/vapour interface for V = 0.

374
1

EUROPHYSICS LETTERS

V/
0.1

0.01 0.001

0.0001 0.00001 0.1

R o

10

Fig. 6 Capillary number Ca = V / vs. the size of the bubble normalised by the capillary length. The open, grey and black squares correspond to = 0.7, 2 and 5.7 , respectively. The straight lines indicate the power 9/4 for R0 > 1 (see eq. (6)) and eq. (7) for R0 < 1.

that this balance dimensionally writes V . 2 e (3)

In addition, matching the Laplace pressures, and thus the curvatures, between the static and the dynamic menisci yields a relation between the length and the thickness e: e . 2 (4)

The usual laws for coating can be deduced from eqs. (3) and (4), together with a dimensional expression for the viscous force F2 V . Using eqs. (3) and (4), we deduce that e F2 Ca2/3 . (5)

F1 ), and balancing it with Supposing that this friction dominates the Stokes friction (F2 the driving force g sin R0 3 , we nd in the pancake case (using eq. (1)) V (R0 )9/4 sin3/2 . (6)

The condition for establishing eq. (6) (F2 F1 ) nally appears to be a condition of small capillary number, also supposed for deriving eqs. (3) and (4), and satised in the experiments. The thickness deduced from eqs. (3) and (4) is typically between 10 m and 100 m, and thus should be much larger than the roughness scale of the solid (typically 1 m). At very small velocity, the viscous force F2 vanishes together with the lm thickness (and with the same scaling), and the viscous force associated with the liquid trapped in the solid roughness should become dominant. This would nally lead to a friction force linear in velocity (and thus varying as the driving force, as sin , for example). We displayed in g. 6 dierent series of data, in the coordinates suggested by eq. (6): the dimensionless velocity V / = Ca is plotted as a function of R0 , the bubble size normalized by the capillary length, for dierent slopes ( = 0.7 , 2 and 5.7 ). In the regime of pancakes (R0 > 1), the data are very well tted by a power law with the exponent 9/4 predicted by eq. (6) (Ca = (R0 )9/4 ). The coecient is observed to increase with the slope, and the corresponding dependence is reported in g. 7.

P. Aussillous et al.: Bubbles creeping in a viscous liquid etc.

375

0.1

0.01

0.001

0.0001 0.01

0.1

sin

Fig. 7 Coecient vs. the sinus of the tilting angle of the solid. The straight line has a slope 3/2, as expected from eq. (6).

It is found that the data are indeed quite well tted by the power 3/2, as expected from eq. (6). A numerical coecient can nally be deduced from the t, and found to be of the order of 0.34 (this value corresponds to the straight line drawn in g. 7). The case of small bubbles (R0 < 1) is more complicated. The lengths e and are scaled F1 is now written Ca1/3 R0 , which is by the bubble radius R0 and the condition F2 not necessarily satised. Corrections due to the Stokes force F1 must be taken into account. Balancing the quantity F1 + F2 with the driving force g sin R0 3 (and using eq. (2) for the size of the contact) leads to the following (scaling) equation for the velocity: a Ca + b Ca2/3 R0 sin R0 2 , (7)

where a and b are unknown numerical coecients. Looking for asymptotic cases, it is found that the solution should scale as a function of R0 , with an exponent between 3/2 and 2, and as a function of sin , with an exponent between 1 and 3/2. This corresponds to the observations displayed in gs. 3, 4 and 6 but it is quite hazardous to be more quantitative: the range on capillary numbers is too small to observe the asymptotic behaviours. However, a t of the form 7 is found to t the data (on this small range), as observed in g. 6. The respective numerical coecients which can be deduced from such a t are a = 5.0 (larger than the Stokes coecient, which is 3 for a bubble in an innite medium) and b = 2.3. Note nally that the velocity always increases with the bubble size, a situation (logically) dierent from the case where the liquid and the gas are inverted (viscous liquid pearl running down an inclined plate): then, the velocity is found to increase when decreasing the pearl size [1, 2]. Conclusions. We described in this paper the creeping motion of a bubble along an inclined solid which is not wetted by this bubble. We rst discussed the characteristic size of the contact between a static bubble and the plate, i.e. the size on which the bubble is deformed by the action of gravity. Then, we showed that the creeping motion cannot be described by a simple Stokes law: the presence of a lubricating lm implies non-trivial laws for the viscous dissipation, which were analyzed by scaling arguments. We focused more particularly on the case of large bubbles: they form pancakes because of the action of gravity, which were found to creep with well-characterized scaling laws. It would be interesting to complete this study by comparing this situation with the one of a solid of same shape creeping similarly (or in the opposite direction, if denser than the liquid). In this case, the interface between the creeping object and the liquid is non-deformable, which raises the question of the selection of the lm thickness. Besides, the dissipation should be

376

EUROPHYSICS LETTERS

dominated in this case by the lubrication lm a case thus very dierent from the situation described in this paper. For bubbles, it should be also worth studying the case of inviscid liquids, for which both the question of the lm selection and the deformations of the bubble shape should lead to quite dierent behaviours.
REFERENCES [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Mahadevan L. and Pomeau Y., Phys. Fluids, 11 (1999) 2449. Aussillous P. and Quere D., Nature (London), 411 (2001) 924. Taylor G. I. and Michael D. H., J. Fluid Mech., 58 (1973) 625. Landau L. D. and Levich B., Acta Physicochim. USSR, 17 (1942) 42. Taylor G. I., J. Fluid Mech., 10 (1961) 161. Bretherton F. P., J. Fluid Mech., 10 (1961) 166. Park C. W. and Homsy G. M., J. Fluid Mech., 139 (1984) 291.