How Topological Rearrangements and Liquid Fraction Control Liquid Foam Stability

A.-L. Biance (1) , Aline Delbos (2) , Olivier Pitois (3, 2)

1 LPMCN - Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée et Nanostructures
2 LPMDI - Laboratoire de Physique des Matériaux Divisés et des Interfaces
3 navier umr 8205 - Laboratoire Navier

The stability of foam is investigated experimentally through coalescence events. Instability (coalescence) occurs when the system is submitted to external perturbations (T1) and when the liquid amount in the film network is below a critical value. Microscopically, transient thick films are observed during film rearrangements. Film rupture, with coalescence and eventual collapse of the foam, occurs when the available local liquid amount is too small for transient films to be formed. Similar experiments and results are shown in the two-bubble case.

Mots clés: foam; bubble rearrangement; thin film

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

A.-L. Biance, Aline Delbos, Olivier Pitois. How Topological Rearrangements and Liquid Fraction Control Liquid Foam Stability. Physical Review Letters, 2011, 106, pp.068301. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevLett.106.068301⟩. ⟨hal-00790447⟩