Yield drag in a two-dimensional foam flow around a circular obstacle: effect of liquid fraction

Abstract

We study the two-dimensional flow of foams around a circular obstacle within a long channel. In experiments, we confine the foam between liquid and glass surfaces. In simulations, we use a deterministic software, the Surface Evolver, for bubble details and a stochastic one, the extended Potts model, for statistics. We adopt a coherent definition of liquid fraction for all studied systems. We vary it in both experiments and simulations, and determine the yield drag of the foam, that is, the force exerted on the obstacle by the foam flowing at very low velocity. We find that the yield drag is linear over a large range of the ratio of obstacle to bubble size, and is independent of the channel width over a large range. Decreasing the liquid fraction, however, strongly increases the yield drag; we discuss and interpret this dependence.