title: Growth laws and self-similar growth regimes of coarsening two-dimensional foams: transition from dry to wet limits.
abstract: We study the topology and geometry of two-dimensional coarsening foam with an arbitrary liquid fraction. To interpolate between the dry limit described by von Neumann's law and the wet limit described by Marqusee's equation, the relevant bubble characteristics are the Plateau border radius and a new variable: the effective number of sides. We propose an equation for the individual bubble growth rate as the weighted sum of the growth through bubble-bubble interfaces and through bubble-Plateau border interfaces. The resulting prediction is successfully tested, without an adjustable parameter, using extensive bidimensional Potts model simulations. The simulations also show that a self-similar growth regime is observed at any liquid fraction, and they also determine how the average size growth exponent, side number distribution, and relative size distribution interpolate between the extreme limits. Applications include concentrated emulsions, grains in polycrystals, and other domains with coarsening that is driven by curvature.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Caixa Postal 15051, 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS Brazil. ismaelfortuna@gmail.com
authors.forename: Ismael
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Fortuna
authors.forename: Gilberto L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.forename: Rita M C
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: de Almeida
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Graner
mesh_terms: D003460:Crystallization; D004655:Emulsions / Q000737:chemistry; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry; D008956:Models, Chemical; D044367:Phase Transition
chemical_list: D004655:Emulsions; D005740:Gases