Structure of random foam.

Journal Article · Tue Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 2004 · Proposed for publication in Physical Review Letters.

OSTI ID:959323

Reinelt, Douglas A ^[1]; van Swol, Frank B; Kraynik, Andrew Michael

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1. Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX

The Surface Evolver was used to compute the equilibrium microstructure of dry soap foams with random structure and a wide range of cell-size distributions. Topological and geometric properties of foams and individual cells were evaluated. The theory for isotropic Plateau polyhedra describes the dependence of cell geometric properties on their volume and number of faces. The surface area of all cells is about 10% greater than a sphere of equal volume; this leads to a simple but accurate theory for the surface free energy density of foam. A novel parameter based on the surface-volume mean bubble radius R32 is used to characterize foam polydispersity. The foam energy, total cell edge length, and average number of faces per cell all decrease with increasing polydispersity. Pentagonal faces are the most common in monodisperse foam but quadrilaterals take over in highly polydisperse structures.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• OSTI ID: 959323
• Report Number(s): SAND2004-3128J
• Journal Information: Proposed for publication in Physical Review Letters., Journal Name: Proposed for publication in Physical Review Letters.
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
FOAMS
FREE ENERGY
MICROSTRUCTURE
RANDOMNESS
SOAPS
SURFACE AREA