Bubble Formation at a Submerged Orifice for Aluminum Foams Produced by Gas Injection Method

Abstract

The bubble formation at a submerged orifice in the process of aluminum foams produced by gas injection method is investigated. The experimental results show that the increase of the gas flow rate and the orifice diameter can lead to increasing of the bubble size. The large orifice can make the frequency of bubble formation decrease by slowing down the increase of the gas chamber pressure when the gas flow rate increases. The effect of the gas chamber volume on the bubble size can be ignored in the experiment when it expands from 1 to 125 cm3. A theoretical model of bubble formation, expansion, and detachment under constant flow conditions is established to predict the bubble size. The theoretical predictions for air-aluminum melt systems are consistent with the experimental results.