Acoustic bubble dynamics in a yield-stress fluid

Brice Saint-Michel, Valeria Garbin*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

10 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Yield-stress fluids naturally trap small bubbles when their buoyancy applies an insufficient stress to induce local yielding of the material. Under acoustic excitation, trapped bubbles can be driven into volumetric oscillations and apply an additional local strain and stress that can trigger yielding and assist their release. In this paper we explore different regimes of microbubble oscillation and translation driven by an ultrasound field in a model yield-stress fluid, a Carbopol microgel. We first analyse the linear bubble oscillation dynamics to measure the local, high-frequency viscosity of the material. We then use acoustic pressure gradients to induce bubble translation and examine the elastic part of the response of the material below yielding. We find that, at moderate pressure amplitude, the additional stresses applied by volumetric oscillations and acoustic radiation forces do not lead to any detectable irreversible bubble motion. At high pressure amplitude, we observe non-spherical shape oscillations that result in erratic bubble motion. The critical pressures we observe differ from the predictions of a recent model of shape oscillations in soft solids. Based on our findings, we discuss possible reasons for the lack of bubble release in Carbopol and suggest other systems in which ultrasound-assisted bubble rise may be observed. This journal is

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)10405-10418
JournalSoft Matter
Volume16
Issue number46
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes

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