Specific surface area model for foam permeability

Probing foams from the nanometer to the millimeter scale by coupling small-angle neutron scattering, imaging, and electrical conductivity measurements

Liquid foams are multi-scale structures whose structural characterization requires the combination of very different techniques. This inherently complex task is made more difficult by the fact that foams are also intrinsically unstable systems and that their properties are highly dependent on the production protocol and sample container. To tackle these issues, a new device has been developed that enables the simultaneous time-resolved investigation of foams by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), electrical conductivity, and bubbles imaging. This device allows the characterization of the foam and its aging from nanometer up to centimeter scale in a single experiment. A specific SANS model was developed to quantitatively adjust the scattering intensity from the dry foam. Structural features such as the liquid fraction, specific surface area of the Plateau borders and inter-bubble films, and thin film thickness were deduced from this analysis, and some of these values were compared with values extracted from the other applied techniques. This approach has been applied to a surfactant-stabilized liquid foam under free drainage and the underlying foam destabilization mechanisms were discussed with unprecedented detail. For example, the information extracted from the image analysis and SANS data allows for the first time to determine the disjoining pressure vs. thickness isotherm in a real, draining foam.

Acoustics of monodisperse open-cell foam: An experimental and numerical parametric study

This article presents an experimental and numerical parametric study of the acoustical properties of monodisperse open-cell solid foam. Solid foam samples are produced with very good control of both the pore size (from 0.2 to 1.0 mm) and the solid volume fraction (from 6% to 35%). Acoustical measurements are performed by the three-microphone impedance tube method. From these measurements, the visco-thermal parameters-namely, viscous permeability, tortuosity, viscous characteristic length, thermal permeability, and thermal characteristic length-are determined for an extensive number of foam samples. By combining Surface Evolver and finite-element method calculations, the visco-thermal parameters of body centered cubic (bcc) foam numerical samples are also calculated on the whole range of solid volume fraction (from 0.5% to 32%), compared to measured values and to theoretical model predictions [Langlois et al. (2019). Phys. Rev. E 100(1), 013115]. Numerical results are then used to find approximate formulas of visco-thermal parameters. A systematic comparison between measurements and predictions of the Johnson-Champoux-Allard-Lafarge (JCAL) model using measured visco-thermal parameters as input parameters, reveals a consistent agreement between them. From this first step, a calculation of the optimal microstructures maximizing the sound absorption coefficient is performed.

Computer simulation of the effect of deformation on the morphology and flow properties of porous media

We report on the results of extensive computer simulation of the effect of deformation on the morphology of a porous medium and its fluid flow properties. The porous medium is represented by packings of spherical particles. Both random and regular as well as dense and nondense packings are used. A quasistatic model based on Hertz's contact theory is used to model the mechanical deformation of the packings, while the evolution of the permeability with the deformation is computed by the lattice-Boltzmann approach. The evolution of the pore-size and pore-length distributions, the porosity, the particles' contacts, the permeability, and the distribution of the stresses that the fluid exerts in the pore space are all studied in detail. The distribution of the pores' lengths, the porosity, and the particles' connectivity change strongly with the application of an external strain to the porous media, whereas the pore-size distribution is not affected as strongly. The permeability of the porous media strongly reduces even when the applied strain is small. When the permeabilities and porosities of the random packings are normalized with respect to their predeformation values, they all collapse onto a single curve, independent of the particle-size distribution. The porosity reduces as a power law with the external strain. The fluid stresses in the pore space follow roughly a log-normal distribution, both before and after deformation.

Foam clogging

To what extent are aqueous foams prone to clogging? Foam permeability is measured as a function of particulate loading (trapped hydrophilic particles) under conditions where the particle to bubble size ratio is allowed to increase when the number of particles per bubble is fixed. In addition to experiments performed on the foam scale, we investigated experimentally and numerically the hydrodynamic resistance of a single foam node loaded with one particle. It is shown that, with respect to solid porous media, aqueous foams clog more efficiently due to two reasons: (i) the deformation of interfaces allows for larger particles to be incorporated within the interstitial network and (ii) the interfacial mobility contributes to lowering of the reduced permeability.

Capture of particles in soft porous media

We investigate the capture of particles in soft porous media. Liquid foam constitutes a model system for such a study, allowing the radii of passage in the pore space to be tuned over several orders of magnitude by adjusting the liquid volume fraction. We show how particle capture is determined by the coupling of interstitial liquid flow and network deformation, and present a simple model of the capture process that shows good agreement with our experimental data.

Recirculation model for liquid flow in foam channels

Although extensively studied in the past, drainage of aqueous foams still offers major unaddressed issues. Among them, the behaviour of foam films during drainage has great significance as the thickness of the films is known to control the Ostwald ripening in foams, which in turn impacts liquid drainage. We propose a model relating the films' behavior to the liquid flow in foam channels. It is assumed that Marangoni-driven recirculation counterflows take place in the transitional region between the foam channel and the adjoining films, and the Gibbs elasticity is therefore introduced as a relevant parameter. The velocity of these counterflows is found to be proportional to the liquid velocity in the channel. The resulting channel permeability is determined and it is shown that Marangoni stresses do not contribute to rigidify the channel's surfaces, in strong contrast with the drainage of horizontal thin liquid films. New experimental data are provided and support the proposed model.