Transient structures in rupturing thin films: Marangoni-induced symmetry-breaking pattern formation in viscous fluids.

ABSTRACT: In the minutes immediately preceding the rupture of a soap bubble, distinctive and repeatable patterns can be observed. These quasistable transient structures are associated with the instabilities of the complex Marangoni flows on the curved thin film in the presence of a surfactant solution. Here, we report a generalized Cahn-Hilliard-Swift-Hohenberg model derived using asymptotic theory that describes the quasielastic wrinkling pattern formation and the consequent coarsening dynamics in a curved surfactant-laden thin film. By testing the theory against experiments on soap bubbles, we find quantitative agreement with the analytical predictions of the nucleation and the early coarsening phases associated with the patterns. Our findings provide fundamental physical understanding that can be

SUBMITTER: Shen L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7343401 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature