Delayed elastic contributions to the viscoelastic response of foams

We show that the slow viscoelastic response of a foam is that of a power-law fluid with a terminal relaxation. Investigations of the foam mechanics in creep and recovery tests reveal that the power-law contribution is fully reversible, indicative of a delayed elastic response. We demonstrate how this contribution fully accounts for the non-Maxwellian features observed in all tests, probing the linear mechanical response function. The associated power-law spectrum is consistent with soft glassy rheology of systems with mechanical noise temperatures just above the glass transition [Fielding et al., J. Rheol. 44, 323 (2000)] and originates from a combination of superdiffusive bubble dynamics and stress diffusion, as recently evidenced in simulations of coarsening foam [Hwang et al., Nat. Mater. 15, 1031 (2016)].& nbsp; (C) 2022 Author(s).& nbsp;

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that the slow viscoelastic response of a foam can be described by a power-law fluid with a terminal relaxation. The reversible power-law contribution accounts for the observed non-Maxwellian features in various tests, indicating a delayed elastic response. The power-law spectrum originates from a combination of superdiffusive bubble dynamics and stress diffusion.