Thinning of a viscoelastic film

✍ Scribed by Douglas W. Bousfield

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1989
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 551 KB
• Volume: 44
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0009-2509
• DOI: 10.1016/0009-2509(89)85050-x

✦ Synopsis

The fiim-thinning step of bubble coalescence is modeled assuming a planar film using the Oldroyd-B constitutive equation. Radially mobile and immobile bubble surfaces are studied including van der Waals' forces. When bubble surfaces are mobile, fluids with small elastic properties increase film thinning rates, while fluids with large elastic properties reduce thinning rates. Viscoelastic fluids are less stable to van der Waals' forces than Newtonian fluids of identical, properties. van der Waals' forces cause the films to rapidly rupture once a critical film thickness is obtained. Predictions are compared with experimental data.