Single bubble deformation and breakup in simple shear flow

Experiments in a parallel band apparatus and a transparent concentric cylinder device allow the observation of bubble deformation (shape and orientation) and breakup as a function of the viscosity ratio λ and the Capillary number Ca. For viscosity ratios between 3.1 × 10⁻⁷ and 6.7 × 10⁻⁸, critical Capillary numbers Ca _c for bubble breakup between 29 and 45 are found. It is furthermore shown that in the given parameter space no clear distinction between tip breakup and fracture can be made for bubbles. An erratum to this article can be found at