A pancake droplet translating in a Hele-Shaw cell: lubrication film and flow field

DOI10.1017/JFM.2016.357zbMATH Open1422.76056arXiv1601.08157OpenAlexW2269619132MaRDI QIDQ2973707FDOQ2973707

Authors: Lailai Zhu, François Gallaire 

Publication date: 4 April 2017

Published in: Journal of Fluid Mechanics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: We adopt a boundary integral method to study the dynamics of a translating droplet confined in a Hele-Shaw cell in the Stokes regime. The droplet is driven by the motion of the ambient fluid with the same viscosity. We characterize the three-dimensional (3D) nature of the droplet interface and of the flow field. The interface develops an arc-shaped ridge near the rear-half rim with a protrusion in the rear and a laterally symmetric pair of higher peaks; this pair of protrusions has been identified by recent experiments (Huerre et al., Phys. Rev. Lett., vol. 115 (6), 2015, 064501) and predicted asymptotically (Burgess and Foster, Phys. Fluids A, vol. 2 (7), 1990, pp. 1105-1117). The mean film thickness is well predicted by the extended Bretherton model (Klaseboer et al., Phys. Fluids, vol. 26 (3), 2014, 032107) with fitting parameters. The flow in the streamwise wall-normal middle plane is featured with recirculating zones, which are partitioned by stagnation points closely resembling those of a two-dimensional droplet in a channel. Recirculation is absent in the wall-parallel, unconfined planes, in sharp contrast to the interior flow inside a moving droplet in free space. The preferred orientation of the recirculation results from the anisotropic confinement of the Hele-Shaw cell. On these planes, we identify a dipolar disturbance flow field induced by the travelling droplet and its $1/r^2$ spatial decay is confirmed numerically. We pinpoint counter-rotating streamwise vortex structures near the lateral interface of the droplet, further highlighting the complex 3D flow pattern.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1601.08157

Recommendations

• Topography of the lubrication film under a pancake droplet travelling in a Hele-Shaw cell
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zbMATH Keywords

boundary integral methodsHele-Shaw flowsdrops

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Lubrication theory (76D08) Other free boundary flows; Hele-Shaw flows (76D27) Boundary element methods applied to problems in fluid mechanics (76M15)

Cites Work

• A NOTE ON THE MOTION OF BUBBLES IN A HELE-SHAW CELL AND POROUS MEDIUM
• The effect of surface tension on the shape of a Hele–Shaw cell bubble
• An accurate adaptive solver for surface-tension-driven interfacial flows
• Accelerated boundary integral method for multiphase flow in non-periodic geometries
• Deposition of a viscous fluid on the wall of a tube
• The motion of long bubbles in tubes
• Two-phase displacement in Hele Shaw cells: theory
• Quick deposition of a fluid on the wall of a tube
• Axisymmetric creeping motion of drops through circular tubes
• A boundary-integral study of a drop squeezing through interparticle constrictions
• Motion of a drop along the centreline of a capillary in a pressure-driven flow
• Analysis of the boundary conditions for a Hele–Shaw bubble
• Bubbles in a Hele–Shaw cell: Numerical simulation of three-dimensional effects
• Boundary elements method for microfluidic two-phase flows in shallow channels
• The motion of a deforming capsule through a corner
• Low-Reynolds-number swimming in a capillary tube
• Emulsion flow through a packed bed with multiple drop breakup
• The motion of a viscous drop through a cylindrical tube
• Levitation of a drop over a moving surface

Cited In (7)

• Error estimates for pressure-driven Hele-Shaw flow
• Droplet levitation over a moving wall with a steady air film
• Film thickness distribution in gravity-driven pancake-shaped droplets rising in a Hele-Shaw cell
• Bifurcations of drops and bubbles propagating in variable-depth Hele-Shaw channels
• Dynamics of non-wetting drops confined in a Hele-Shaw cell
• Topography of the lubrication film under a pancake droplet travelling in a Hele-Shaw cell
• Three-dimensional streaming around an obstacle in a Hele-Shaw cell

Uses Software

• Gerris

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