77th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (November 24, 2024 — November 26, 2024)

P2684643: Insoluble Surfactant Transport Interacting with Breaking Waves

Authors
  • Sai Chaitanya Gembali, University of Minnesota
  • Lian Shen, University of Minnesota
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/APS.DFD.2024.GFM.P2684643

We conducted Direct Numerical Simulations to study the behavior of insoluble surfactants on breaking waves. Initially, the surfactant concentration is uniform but becomes non-uniform as the wave evolves, with low concentration represented in blue, and high in green. Variable surfactant concentrations create surface tension gradients that lead to Marangoni stresses. This causes fluid flow velocities to vary between areas of low and high surface tension, influencing the formation of jets, droplets, and bubbles. This visualization illustrates wave dynamics with surfactants compared to those without. These insights could help optimize surfactant use for addressing ocean oil spills.

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