Restoring universality to the pinch-off of a bubble

Journal Article · 17 June 2019 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1819744116 · OSTI ID:1526769

Pahlavan, Amir A.; Stone, Howard A.; McKinley, Gareth H. ; Juanes, Ruben

The pinch-off of a bubble is an example of the formation of a singularity, exhibiting a characteristic separation of length and time scales. Because of this scale separation, one expects universal dynamics that collapse into self-similar behavior determined by the relative importance of viscous, inertial, and capillary forces. Surprisingly, however, the pinch-off of a bubble in a large tank of viscous liquid is known to be nonuniversal. In this work, we show that the pinch-off dynamics of a bubble confined in a capillary tube undergo a sequence of two distinct self-similar regimes, even though the entire evolution is controlled by a balance between viscous and capillary forces. We demonstrate that the early-time self-similar regime restores universality to bubble pinch-off by erasing the system’s memory of the initial conditions. Our findings have important implications for bubble/drop generation in microfluidic devices, with applications in inkjet printing, medical imaging, and synthesis of particulate materials.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0018357
• OSTI ID: 1526769
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 28 Vol. 116; ISSN 0027-8424
• Publisher: National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English