A new complex fluid flow phenomenon: Bubbles-on-a-String

Abstract

A liquid jet plunging into a quiescent bath of the same liquid is a fundamental fluid mechanical problem underpinning a range of processes in industry and the natural world. Significant attention has been given to the study of plunging laminar Newtonian jets and the associated air entrainment that can occur. However, there have been very few (if any) studies devoted to the equivalent case for non-Newtonian viscoelastic liquids. Here we consider the laminar plunging and associated air entrainment of a shear thinning viscoelastic jet into a still bath of the same liquid. We describe a previously unreported phenomenon, that we call ``bubbles-on-a-string'' (BUoaS), consisting of multiple stable toroidal bubbles rising co-axially around the submerged jet. In a qualitative sense, this new observation is akin to an inverse version of the well-known rheological phenomenon ``beads-on-a-string''. The BUoaS phenomenon is stable and repeatable and can be reproduced to a lesser extent in Newtonian surfactant solutions, indicating that low surface tension is key, but non-Newtonian rheology seems likely to provide the most favourable conditions for the onset of the phenomenon. A full characterisation and detailed study of this behaviour with accompanying numerical simulation is to follow in an upcoming publication.