78th Annual Meeting of the APS Division of Fluid Dynamics (Nov 23 — 25, 2025)

P024: Turbulent mixing of bubble caps

Authors
  • Tristan Aurégan, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University
  • Luc Deike , Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, High Meadows Environmental Institute, Princeton University

Surface bubbles drain by exchanging fluid with the surrounding bath through an instability called marginal regeneration. Patches, thinner than the rest of the bubble cap are generated at the foot and then rise towards the top due to their buoyancy. Doing so, they reduce the amount of fluid in the cap until the bubble eventually bursts. At the surface of oceans and rivers, the air and the liquid surrounding bubbles are rarely perfectly still. Turbulence in the air entrains the cap of the bubble, stretching and deforming the patches of marginal regeneration. The patches and their associated plumes are made visible here through color interferometry. The images are arranged downwards in order of turbulence intensity.

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