Influence of density and viscosity on deformation, breakage, and coalescence of bubbles in turbulence

Abstract

The interaction between turbulence and deformable interfaces occurs in many environmental phenomena and industrial applications, from bubble generation in breaking waves, to combustion and atomization processes. We use direct numerical simulations to unveil the complex interaction among turbulence, interfaces, and bubble properties, namely density, viscosity, and surface tension. We observe that while density differences have a negligible effect on breakage and coalescence of bubbles, viscosity differences play a key role in the interactions among bubbles and between bubbles and turbulence.