Solid structures in a highly agitated bed of granular materials

A series of experiments are described in which bubbles and solid structures are produced in a highly agitated bed of vertically shaken granular materials. To identify the physical mechanisms behind bubbling, three-dimensional simulations of the aforementioned systems are performed on a graphics processing unit (GPU). The gas dynamics above and within shaken granular materials is solved using large-eddy simulations (LES) while the dynamics of grains is described through molecular dynamics. Here, the interaction between the grain surfaces is modeled using the generalized form of contact theory developed by Hertz. In addition, the coefficient of kinetic friction is assumed to depend on the relative velocity of slipping. The results show both a qualitative and a quantitative agreement between simulations and experiments. They imply that the instantaneous formation and failure of granular aggregates could play an important role in the nucleation, growth, departure and collapse of bubbles in shaken granular materials. This promising effort in GPU computing may position the GPU as a compelling future alternative to traditional simulation techniques.     

Study on the bubble transport mechanism in an acoustic standing wave field

The use of bubbles in applications such as surface chemistry, drug delivery, and ultrasonic cleaning etc. has been enormously popular in the past two decades. It has been recognized that acoustically-driven bubbles can be used to disturb the flow field near a boundary in order to accelerate physical or chemical reactions on the surface. The interactions between bubbles and a surface have been studied experimentally and analytically. However, most of the investigations focused on violently oscillating bubbles (also known as cavitation bubble), less attention has been given to understand the interactions between moderately oscillating bubbles and a boundary. Moreover, cavitation bubbles were normally generated in situ by a high intensity laser beam, little experimental work has been carried out to study the translational trajectory of a moderately oscillating bubble in an acoustic field and subsequent interactions with the surface. This paper describes the design of an ultrasonic test cell and explores the mechanism of bubble manipulation within the test cell. The test cell consists of a transducer, a liquid medium and a glass backing plate. The acoustic field within the multi-layered stack was designed in such a way that it was effectively one dimensional. This was then successfully simulated by a one dimensional network model. The model can accurately predict the impedance of the test cell as well as the mode shape (distribution of particle velocity and stress/pressure field) within the whole assembly. The mode shape of the stack was designed so that bubbles can be pushed from their injection point onto a backing glass plate. Bubble radial oscillation was simulated by a modified Keller–Miksis equation and bubble translational motion was derived from an equation obtained by applying Newton’s second law to a bubble in a liquid medium. Results indicated that the bubble trajectory depends on the acoustic pressure amplitude and initial bubble size: an increase of pressure amplitude or a decrease of bubble size forces bubbles larger than their resonant size to arrive at the target plate at lower heights, while the trajectories of smaller bubbles are less influenced by these factors. The test cell is also suitable for testing the effects of drag force on the bubble motion and for studying the bubble behavior near a surface.     

Modelling the initial motion of large cylindrical and spherical bubbles

A two-dimensional, transient, finite difference technique based on a volume fraction specification of the free surface position and accounting for the effects of surface tension is shown to accurately predict the initial motion of large cylindrical and spherical bubbles. The predictions compare very favourably with the experimental data of Walters and Davidson. The initial acceleration of cylindrical and spherical bubbles is properly predicted as g and 2g respectively. The penetration of a tongue of liquid from below is the dominant process by which large deformations from the original shape take place and is well predicted by the model in both cases. For the spherical case the eventual transition into a toroidal bubble is demonstrated and the circulation associated with a rising toroidal bubble as a function of its volume upon release is shown to agree very well with experiments. Iterative linear equation-solving techniques applicable to the special nature of the linear system resulting from such a free surface specification are surveyed and a simple Jacobi iteration based on red-black ordering is found to perform well. The impact of the free surface on the relaxation of the linear system and the convergence criteria is also explored.     

Oscillatory Marangoni convection around the air bubble in a vertical surfactant stratificationConvection de Marangoni oscillante autour d'une bulle d'air dans une stratification verticale surfactante

The solutocapillary Marangoni convection around a gas bubble in the inhomogeneous binary mixture of miscible fluids with a vertical surfactant concentration gradient was studied experimentally. A new phenomenon, the oscillatory instability of the surfactant mass transfer, near the bubble boundary, was detected and investigated. The interpretation of this effect as an interaction between the surfactant adsorption at the bubble free surface and solutocapillary and buoyancy convective mechanisms is proposed. The experimental data on oscillation period in relation to bubble dimensions, time, liquid layer thickness, physico-chemical fluid parameters and concentration gradients are presented and discussed. To cite this article: K. Kostarev et al., C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004).     

Acoustic waves in a liquid with a bubble screen

In this work, certain peculiarities of the dynamics of pressure waves in a liquid containing bubbles are studied. The specification of a model of bubbly liquids with regard to acoustic damping of the bubbles is considered. Our theoretical results are compared with experimental ones.Received: 30 June 2002, Accepted: 2 February 2003, Published online: 11 June 2003     

Low-Reynolds-number motion of a deformable drop between two parallel plane walls

The motion of a three-dimensional deformable drop between two parallel plane walls in a low-Reynolds-number Poiseuille flow is examined using a boundary-integral algorithm that employs the Green’s function for the domain between two infinite plane walls, which incorporates the wall effects without discretization of the walls. We have developed an economical calculation scheme that allows long-time dynamical simulations, so that both transient and steady-state shapes and velocities are obtained. Results are presented for neutrally buoyant drops having various viscosity, size, deformability, and channel position. For nearly spherical drops, the decrease in translational velocity relative to the undisturbed fluid velocity at the drop center increases with drop size, proximity of the drop to one or both walls, and drop-to-medium viscosity ratio. When deformable drops are initially placed off the centerline of flow, lateral migration towards the channel center is observed, where the drops obtain steady shapes and translational velocities for subcritical capillary numbers. With increasing capillary number, the drops become more deformed and have larger steady velocities due to larger drop-to-wall clearances. Non-monotonic behavior for the lateral migration velocities with increasing viscosity ratio is observed. Simulation results for large drops with non-deformed spherical diameters exceeding the channel height are also presented.     

Evaluation of micro-bubble size and gas hold-up in two-phase gas-liquid columns via scattered light measurements

In this paper, potential use of an elliptically polarized light scattering (EPLS) method to monitor both bubble size and gas hold-up in a bubble-laden medium is explored. It is shown that with the use of the new EPLS system, normalized scattering matrix elements (M_ij's) measured at different side and back-scattering angles can be used to obtain the desired correlations between the bubble sizes and input flow parameters for a gas-liquid (GL) column, including gas flow rate and surfactant concentrations. The bubble size distributions were first evaluated experimentally using a digital image processing system for different gas flows and surfactant concentrations. These images showed that the bubbles were not necessarily spherical. We investigated the possibility of modeling the bubbles as effective spheres. The scattering matrix elements were calculated using the Lorenz-Mie theory and the results were compared against the experimentally determined values. It was observed that the change in the bubble size yields significant changes in M₁₁, M₃₃, M₄₄, and M₃₄ profiles. An optimum single measurement angle of θ=120^° was determined for a gas velocity range of 0.04-0.35 cm/s (). The choice of the optimum angle depends on frit pore size, column diameter, gas pressure, and surfactant concentration. These results suggest that a simplified version of the present EPLS system can effectively be used as a two-phase flow sensor to monitor bubble size and liquid hold-up in industrial systems.     

Fuzzy adaptive decision-making for boundedly rational traders in speculative stock markets

The development of new models that would enhance predictability for time series with dynamic time-varying, nonlinear features is a major challenge for speculators. Boundedly rational investors called “chartists” use advanced heuristics and rules-of-thumb to make profit by trading, or even hedge against potential market risks. This paper introduces a hybrid neurofuzzy system for decision-making and trading under uncertainty. The efficiency of a technical trading strategy based on the neurofuzzy model is investigated, in order to predict the direction of the market for 10 of the most prominent stock indices of U.S.A, Europe and Southeast Asia. It is demonstrated via an extensive empirical analysis that the neurofuzzy model allows technical analysts to earn significantly higher returns by providing valid information for a potential turning point on the next trading day. The total profit of the proposed neurofuzzy model, including transaction costs, is consistently superior to a recurrent neural network and a Buy & Hold strategy for all indices, particularly for the highly speculative, emerging Southeast Asian markets. Optimal prediction is based on the dynamic update and adaptive calibration of the heuristic fuzzy learning rules, which reflect the psychological and behavioral patterns of the traders.     

Purely irrotational theories for the viscous effects on the oscillations of drops and bubbles

In this paper, we apply two purely irrotational theories of the motion of a viscous fluid, namely, viscous potential flow (VPF) and the dissipation method to the problem of the decay of waves on the surface of a sphere. We treat the problem of the decay of small disturbances on a viscous drop surrounded by gas of negligible density and viscosity and a bubble immersed in a viscous liquid. The instantaneous velocity field in the viscous liquid is assumed to be irrotational. In VPF, viscosity enters the problem through the viscous normal stress at the free surface. In the dissipation method, viscosity appears in the dissipation integral included in the mechanical energy equation. Comparisons of the eigenvalues from VPF and the dissipation approximation with those from the exact solution of the linearized governing equations are presented. The results show that the viscous irrotational theories exhibit most of the features of the wave dynamics described by the exact solution. In particular, VPF and DM give rise to a viscous correction for the frequency that determines the crossover from oscillatory to monotonically decaying waves. Good to reasonable quantitative agreement with the exact solution is also shown for certain ranges of modes and dimensionless viscosity: For large viscosity and short waves, VPF is a very good approximation to the exact solution. For ‘small’ viscosity and long waves, the dissipation method furnishes the best approximation.     

Determination of hydrodynamic behavior of gas–solid fluidized beds using statistical analysis of acoustic emissions

In the processes involving the movement of solid particles, acoustic emissions are caused by particle friction, collision and fluid turbulence. Particle behavior can therefore be monitored and characterized by assessing the acoustic emission signals. Herein, extensive measurements were carried out by microphone at different superficial gas velocities with different particle sizes. Acoustic emission signals were processed using statistical analysis from which the minimum fluidization velocity was determined from the variation of standard deviation, skewness and kurtosis of acoustic emission signals against superficial gas velocity. Initial minimum fluidization velocity, corresponding to onset of fluidization of finer particles in the solids mixture, at which isolated bubbles occur, was also detected by this method. It was shown that the acoustic emission measurement is highly feasible as a practical method for monitoring the hydrodynamics of gas–solid fluidized beds.