Theoretical elucidation of effect of drag force and translation of bubble on weakly nonlinear pressure waves in bubbly flows

Theoretical investigation of the effects of a translation of bubbles and a drag force acting on bubbles on the wave propagation in bubbly flows has long been lacking. In this study, we theoretically and numerically investigate the weakly nonlinear (i.e., finite but small amplitude) propagation of plane progressive pressure waves in compressible water flows that contain uniformly distributed spherical gas bubbles with translation and drag forces. First, we assume that the gas and liquid phases flow at independent velocities. Then, the drag force and virtual mass force are introduced in an interfacial transport across the bubble-liquid interface in the momentum conservation equations. Furthermore, we consider the translation and spherically symmetric oscillations as bubble dynamics and deploy a two-fluid model to introduce the translation and drag forces. Bubbles do not coalesce, break up, extinct, or appear. For simplicity, the gas viscosity, thermal conductivities of the gas and liquid, and phase change and mass transport across the bubble-liquid interface are ignored. The following results are then obtained: (i) Using the method of multiple scales, two types of Korteweg-de Vries-Burgers equations with a correction term due to the drag force are derived. (ii) The translation of bubbles enhances the nonlinear effect of waves, and the drag force acting on bubbles contributes the nonlinear and dissipation effects of waves. (iii) The results of long-period numerical analysis verify that the temporal evolution of the wave (not flow) dissipation due to the drag force differs from that caused by the acoustic radiation.

Automated summary

The effects of a translation of bubbles and a drag force acting on bubbles on wave propagation in bubbly flows have been theoretically and numerically investigated. The translation of bubbles enhances the nonlinear effect of waves, while the drag force contributes to the nonlinear and dissipation effects of waves. Results show that the dissipation of waves due to drag force differs from that caused by acoustic radiation.