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Stability and tip streaming of a surfactant-loaded drop in an extensional flow. Influence of surface viscosity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2022

M.A. Herrada
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ingeniería Aeroespacial y Mecánica de Fluidos, Universidad de Sevilla, E-41092 Sevilla, Spain
A. Ponce-Torres
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de los Materiales and Instituto de Computación Científica Avanzada (ICCAEx), Universidad de Extremadura, E-06006 Badajoz, Spain
M. Rubio
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de los Materiales and Instituto de Computación Científica Avanzada (ICCAEx), Universidad de Extremadura, E-06006 Badajoz, Spain
J. Eggers
Affiliation:
School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Fry Building, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK
J.M. Montanero*
Affiliation:
Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Energética y de los Materiales and Instituto de Computación Científica Avanzada (ICCAEx), Universidad de Extremadura, E-06006 Badajoz, Spain
*
†Email address for correspondence: jmm@unex.es

Abstract

We study numerically the nonlinear stationary states of a droplet covered with an insoluble surfactant in a uniaxial extensional flow. We calculate both the eigenfunctions to reveal the instability mechanism and the time-dependent states resulting from it, which provides a coherent picture of the phenomenon. The transition is of the saddle-node type, both with and without surfactant. The flow becomes unstable under stationary linear perturbations. Surfactant considerably reduces the interval of stable capillary numbers. Inertia increases the droplet deformation and decreases the critical capillary number. In the presence of the surfactant monolayer, neither the droplet deformation nor the stability is significantly affected by the droplet viscosity. The transient state resulting from instability is fundamentally different for drops with and without surfactant. Tip streaming occurs only in the presence of surfactants. The critical eigenmode leading to tip streaming is qualitatively the same as that yielding the central pinching mode for a clean interface, which indicates that the small local scale characterizing tip streaming is set during the nonlinear droplet deformation. The viscous surface stress does not significantly affect the droplet deformation and the critical capillary number. However, the damping rate of the dominant mode considerably decreases for viscous surfactants. Interestingly, shear viscous surface stress considerably alters the tip streaming arising in the supercritical regime, even for very small surface viscosities. The viscous surface stresses alter the balance of normal interfacial stresses and affect the surfactant transport over the stretched interface.

Information

Type
JFM Papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press
Figure 0

Figure 1. Sketch of the fluid domain. The dashed line indicates the computational domain.

Figure 1

Table 1. Dimensionless parameters, their physical meanings and the values considered in the simulations. The numbers in bold type correspond to most of the simulations.

Figure 2

Figure 2. Details of the grid used in the simulations.

Figure 3

Figure 3. Velocity $v_{{tip}}$ of the droplet tip as a function of time $t$ for four spatial and temporal discretizations: $\{n_{\chi }^{(i)}=18$, $n_{\xi }^{(i)}=501$, $n_{\chi }^{(o)}=31$, $n_{\xi }^{(o)}=1003$, $\Delta t_0=0.02\}$ (green diamonds), $\{n_{\chi }^{(i)}=21$, $n_{\xi }^{(i)}=701$, $n_{\chi }^{(o)}=41$, $n_{\xi }^{(o)}=1403$, $\Delta t_0=0.02\}$ (black circles), $\{n_{\chi }^{(i)}=21$, $n_{\xi }^{(i)}=701$, $n_{\chi }^{(o)}=41$, $n_{\xi }^{(o)}=1403$, $\Delta t_0=0.01\}$ (blue squares) and $\{n_{\chi }^{(i)}=25$, $n_{\xi }^{(i)}=801$, $n_{\chi }^{(o)}=45$, $n_{\xi }^{(o)}=1603$, $\Delta t_0=0.02\}$ (red triangles). The values of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$.

Figure 4

Figure 4. (a) Mean curvature $\kappa _{{tip}}$ at the bubble tip as a function of the capillary number $C$ for $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =10^{-7}\}$ (symbols). The solid line corresponds to the numerical result of Eggers & Courrech du Pont (2009) for the inviscid case. (b) Bubble shape for $C=0.33$.

Figure 5

Figure 5. Droplet deformation $D$ as a function of the capillary number $C$ for $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =10^{-7}\}$ in the absence of surfactant (symbols). The solid line corresponds to the numerical result of Eggers & Courrech du Pont (2009) for $\lambda =0$. The dotted and dashed lines correspond to the perturbation theory to first and second order in $Ca$ of Barthls-Biesel & Acrivos (1973).

Figure 6

Figure 6. Spectrum of eigenvalues with $\omega _i>-4.66$ for $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.09855$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The arrow indicates the eigenvalue of the critical mode.

Figure 7

Figure 7. Droplet deformation $D$ (a), and imaginary part of the dominant eigenvalue $\omega _i^*$ (b), as functions of the capillary number $C$ for $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The figure also shows the results for a clean interface ($\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0$). The dotted lines are guides for the eye.

Figure 8

Figure 8. Streamlines of the base flow and isocontours of the magnitude of the perturbed pressure field $|\delta p^{(j)}(r,z)|$ for $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.0986$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The colour scale shows the values of $|\delta p^{(j)}(r,z)|$ normalized with its maximum value. The red line is the interface location.

Figure 9

Figure 9. Droplet shape in the base flow (shaded area) and interface displacement due to the eigenmode, $(r_s,z_s)=(r_{s0},z_{s0})+\phi \, ({\rm Re}[\delta r_s],{\rm Re}[\delta z_s])$ (dashed lines) (see (2.15)), for $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0$ and $C=0.171$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.1$ and $C=0.13$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.25$ and $C=0.106$, and $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$ and $C=0.09855$. The values of the rest of governing parameters are $\{{Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The value of the arbitrary constant $\phi$ in the linear analysis has been chosen to appreciate the interface deformation.

Figure 10

Figure 10. Droplet shape in the base flow (shaded area) and interface displacement due to the eigenmode, $(r_s,z_s)=(r_{s0},z_{s0})+\phi \, ({\rm Re}[\delta r_s],{\rm Re}[\delta z_s])$ (dashed line) (see (2.15)), for $\lambda =10^{-2}$ and $C=0.2505$ in the absence of surfactant. The value of the arbitrary constant $\phi$ in the linear analysis has been chosen to appreciate the interface deformation.

Figure 11

Figure 11. Droplet deformation $D$ (a), and imaginary part of the dominant eigenvalue, $\omega _i^*$ (b), as functions of the capillary number $C$ for $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =10^{-3}$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The figure also shows the results for a clean interface ($\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0$). The dotted lines are guides for the eye.

Figure 12

Figure 12. Droplet deformation $D$ and imaginary part of the dominant eigenvalue $\omega _i^*$ as functions of the capillary number $C$ for different values of the Reynolds number number, ${\rm Re}=0$, 1 and 10. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{\rho =1$, $\lambda =0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The solid circles correspond to damped oscillatory perturbations. The vertical dotted lines indicate the values of the critical capillary number.

Figure 13

Figure 13. Droplet deformation $D$ as a function of the capillary number $C$ for $\lambda =0.1$ and $10^{-3}$. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The symbols are the simulation results, while the solid and dashed lines are the first-order and third-order perturbation theory of Vlahovska et al. (2009).

Figure 14

Figure 14. Droplet deformation $D$, and imaginary part of the dominant eigenvalue $\omega _i^*$, as functions of the capillary number $C$ for different values of the Boussinesq number $B_{s,{eq}}=0$, 0.01 and 1. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$. The dotted lines are guides for the eye.

Figure 15

Figure 15. Surface velocity $v_t$ on the interface for $B_{s,{eq}}=0$ and 10. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.04$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5\}$. We imposed the condition $\hat {\varGamma }=\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}$ to suppress soluto-capillarity and Marangoni stress.

Figure 16

Figure 16. Surface tension $\hat {\sigma }$ (a), surface coverage $\hat {\varGamma }$ (b), tangential surface velocity $v_t$ (c), and interface position $F$ (d), as functions of the axial coordinate $z$ for $B_{s,{eq}}=0$ and $C=0.09855$ (blue lines) and $B_{s,{eq}}=1$ and $C=0.09835$ (black lines). The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$.

Figure 17

Figure 17. Droplet deformation $D$ and imaginary part of the dominant eigenvalue $\omega _i^*$ as functions of the capillary number $C$ for different values of the Boussinesq number $B_{s,{eq}}=0$ and 1. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =10^{-3}$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$. The dotted lines are guides for the eye.

Figure 18

Figure 18. Droplet deformation $D$ and imaginary part of the dominant eigenvalue $\omega _i^*$ as functions of the capillary number $C$ for $\lambda ^S=0$, 1 and $10^3$. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$. The dotted lines are guides for the eye.

Figure 19

Figure 19. (a,b) Surfactant distribution $\hat {\varGamma }$ (a) and droplet shape $F$ (b) for $\{\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.1$, $C=0.113\}$ (black) and $\{\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$, $C=0.0983\}$ (blue). (c,d) Droplet shape in the base flow (shaded area) and interface displacement due to the critical eigenmode, $(r_s,z_s)=(r_{s0},z_{s0})+\phi \, ({\rm Re}[\delta r_s],{\rm Re}[\delta z_s])$ (dashed lines). The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{Re=0$, $\lambda =0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$; $B_{s,{eq}}=1$, $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$.

Figure 20

Figure 20. Shape of an inertialess droplet in the absence of surfactant at different instants for $\lambda =0.1$ and $C=0.175$.

Figure 21

Figure 21. Droplet shapes for $t=60$, 120, 130 and 133.9 (from top to bottom). The colours indicate the surfactant surface concentration $\hat {\varGamma }$ (a,d,g,j), interfacial tension $\hat {\sigma }$ (b,e,h,k), and tangential surface velocity $v_t$ (c,f,i,l). The values of the governing parameters are $\{{Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$.

Figure 22

Figure 22. Velocity $v_{{tip}}$ of the droplet tip as a function of the droplet deformation $D$ for $\{\rho =1$, ${\rm Re}=10$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.084$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $B_{s,{eq}}=0\}$. The circles and triangles correspond to simulations starting from a spherical droplet with a uniform surfactant distribution and from the steady solution for a subcritical case close to the stability limit, respectively.

Figure 23

Figure 23. Velocity $v_{{tip}}$ of the droplet tip as a function of the time $t$ (a) and the droplet deformation $D$ (b) for $B_{s,{eq}}=0$, $10^{-5}$, $10^{-4}$ and $10^{-3}$. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$. The colours indicate the surfactant surface concentration $\hat {\varGamma }$.

Figure 24

Figure 24. Droplet shape in the course (a–d) and at the end (e) of the transient simulation for $B_{s,{eq}}=0$, $10^{-5}$, $10^{-4}$ and $10^{-3}$. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$. The colours in graph (e) indicate the surfactant surface concentration $\hat {\varGamma }$.

Figure 25

Figure 25. Droplet diameter $d$ at the end of the transient simulation for $B_{s,{eq}}=10^{-6}$, $10^{-5}$, $10^{-4}$ and $10^{-3}$. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$; $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$.

Figure 26

Figure 26. Curvature $\kappa _{{tip}}$ of the droplet tip as a function of the droplet deformation $D$ for $B_{s,{eq}}=0$, $10^{-5}$, $10^{-4}$ and $10^{-3}$. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$.

Figure 27

Figure 27. Shape and surfactant distribution at $t=132.3$ for $\lambda ^S=0$ and $B_{s,{eq}}=10^{-3}$ (a), $\lambda ^S=1$ and $B_{s,{eq}}=10^{-3}$ (b), and $\lambda ^S=10^3$ and $B_{s,{eq}}=10^{-6}$ (c). The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$; $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$. The colours indicate the surfactant surface concentration $\hat {\varGamma }$.

Figure 28

Figure 28. Surface tension $\hat {\sigma }$ (a), surface coverage $\hat {\varGamma }$ (b), surface shear stress $\tau _{ts}^S$ (c), surface velocity $v_t$ (d), and interface position $F$ (e), as functions of the axial coordinate $z$ for the Boussinesq numbers at equilibrium $B_{s,{eq}}=0$ and $10^{-3}$. The values of the rest of the governing parameters are $\{{\rm Re}=0$, $\lambda =0.1$, $C=0.1$; ${Pe}^S=10^3$, $Ma=0.2$, $\hat {\varGamma }_{{eq}}=0.5$; $\lambda ^S=1$, $\hat {\varPi }_c=0.1\}$.