Wall shear stress and void fraction in Poiseuille bubbly flows: Part II: experiments and validity of analytical predictions

In a companion paper, a simple analytical formulation has been established which provides the wall shear stress in laminar bubbly flows for idealised transverse void fraction distributions. In the present paper, this approach is applied to Poiseuille bubbly flows in circular ducts. New measurements of the void fraction profiles and wall friction angular distribution in a pipe are presented for a wide range of flow parameters. Approximating the void profiles by step-functions allows us to evaluate the wall friction with the above mentioned model. Results are shown to agree satisfactorily with measurements. Notably, negative wall shear stress and wall shear stress much higher than their single-phase flow counterpart at the same liquid flow rate are recovered. Therefore, the principal mechanisms responsible for friction modification are captured with this simple model.