Interactions of fibres with simple arrangements of soap films

Abstract

We present experiments and Surface Evolver simulations concerning the interaction of fibres with simple arrangements of soap films, which constitute model systems for dry foams. For a fibre inserted into a soap film which spans two Plateau borders, our simulation accurately predicts the variation in the length of the film as the fibre thickness is varied. For a fibre introduced into a Plateau border, simulations accurately predict the variation in length of the Plateau border as the fibre diameter is varied, and as it is moved. We suggest that the force necessary to move the fibre from equilibrium may act to inhibit foam coarsening, in line with observations from experiments on fibreladen foams. EUFOAM Proceedings OfficeDublin, 28/10/2016 Dear Editor, Please find enclosed our manuscript entitled: "Interactions of fibres with simple arrangements of soap films" which was presented in the last EUFOAM Conference by David Whyte. This work presents an experimental investigation of the configuration of soap films in the presence of fibre. The data are described both theoretically and numerically. The very good description of our experimental data with our simulations allow to predict the configuration of the films as a function of the features of the fibre.In addition, our observations raise the question of the interaction between foam and fibres at the macroscopic scale, this appears as a promising topic, in particular for industry dealing with novel materials. Thus, we believe our observations should interest the broad community of researcher in fluid mechanics working on foam containing solid material. We therefore would be very excited to see this work published in the EUFOAM Proceedings, which we believe reaches the most relevant audience for our work. AbstractWe present experiments and Surface Evolver simulations concerning the interaction of fibres with simple arrangements of soap films, which constitute model systems for dry foams. For a fibre inserted into a soap film which spans two Plateau borders, our simulation accurately predicts the variation in the length of the film as the fibre thickness is varied. For a fibre introduced into a Plateau border, simulations accurately predict the variation in length of the Plateau border as the fibre diameter is varied, and as it is moved. We suggest that the force necessary to move the fibre from its equilibrium position may act to inhibit foam coarsening, in line with previous observations from experiments on fibre-laden foams.

Bubble Attachment to Cellulose and Silica Surfaces of Varied Surface Energies: Wetting Transition and Implications in Foam Forming

“…The pinning of bubbles to fibers contributes, among other things, to the coarsening of wet fiber foams and thus to their drainage properties. 7 SDS was shown to adsorb on both hydrophilic and hydrophobic cellulose, which can also affect the dry material properties. 80 The roles of nanobubbles and surface roughness on bubble−fiber interaction remain open questions.…”

“…The wet foam is guided onto a wire, and the liquid in the foam is removed by vacuum drainage and drying with heat, leaving a self-standing dry fiber structure. As this technology is relatively new, research has focused on a better understanding of the fundamentals of the wet fiber foam system (drainage rate, bubble size distribution, coarsening rate) − and its effects on dry material properties. − …”

Foam forming of fiber products: a review

“…This indicates that bubbles have an affinity to fiber surfaces. [31,47] The fibers inside the foam are thus locked between the bubbles so that direct collisions between fibers become rarer. This is the key mechanism that explains the improved homogeneity (in papermaking called "formation" [48] ) achieved with foam forming as compared to the water forming process.…”

Elastocapillary deformation of thin elastic ribbons in 2D foam columns

“…Such systems form periodically ordered liquid film architectures into which an elastic ribbon can be introduced. Although the question of complex deformation of an intruder in an architected medium has been widely studied in the case of granular media [15,16] with applications in the context of root growth [17], a limited number of studies on model systems exist in the case of liquid foams, such as the analysis of simple arrangements of soap films interacting with rigid solids [18], and simulations of flexible fibres in foam under shear [19]. We consider a model system composed of an ordered assembly of monodisperse soap bubbles and an elastomer ribbon (Fig.…”