The drainage of a foam lamella

Journal article

We present a mathematical model for the drainage of a surfactant-stabilized foam lamella, including capillary, Marangoni and viscous effects and allowing for diffusion, advection and adsorption of the surfactant molecules. We use the slender geometry of a lamella to formulate the model in the thin-film limit and perform an asymptotic decomposition of the liquid domain into a capillary-static Plateau border, a timedependent thin film and a transition region between the two. By solving a quasi-steady boundary-value problem in the transition region, we obtain the flux of liquid from the lamella into the Plateau border and thus are able to determine the rate at which the lamella drains.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Journal: Journal of Fluid Mechanics
• Issue: 458
• Publication date: 2002-01-01
• DOI: 10.1017/s0022112002007930
• ISSN: 0022-1120
• Subjects: Mathematics