title: 3D simulations of wet foam coarsening evidence a self similar growth regime.
abstract: In wet liquid foams, slow diffusion of gas through bubble walls changes bubble pressure, volume and wall curvature. Large bubbles grow at the expenses of smaller ones. The smaller the bubble, the faster it shrinks. As the number of bubbles in a given volume decreases in time, the average bubble size increases:i.e.the foam coarsens. During coarsening, bubbles also move relative to each other, changing bubble topology and shape, while liquid moves within the regions separating the bubbles. Analyzing the combined effects of these mechanisms requires examining a volume with enough bubbles to provide appropriate statistics throughout coarsening. Using a Cellular Potts model, we simulate these mechanisms during the evolution of three-dimensional foams with wetnesses ofϕ= 0.00, 0.05 and 0.20. We represent the liquid phase as an ensemble of many small fluid particles, which allows us to monitor liquid flow in the region between bubbles. The simulations begin with 2 × 105bubbles forϕ= 0.00 and 1.25 × 105bubbles forϕ= 0.05 and 0.20, allowing us to track the distribution functions for bubble size, topology and growth rate over two and a half decades of volume change. All simulations eventually reach aself-similargrowth regime, with the distribution functions time independent and the number of bubbles decreasing with time as a power law whose exponent depends on the wetness.
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, C.P. 15051 - 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gilberto L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Thomas
authors.affiliation: European Molecular Biology Laboratory Heidelberg, Meyerhofstr. 1, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany; Biocomplexity Institute and Department of Physics, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, United States of America.
authors.forename: Julio M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Belmonte
authors.affiliation: Matière et Systèmes Complexes, Université Paris Diderot, CNRS UMR 7057, 10 rue Alice Domon et Léonie Duquet, F-75205 Paris Cedex 13, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Graner
authors.affiliation: Biocomplexity Institute and Department of Physics, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, United States of America.
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Glazier
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Física, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, C.P. 15051 - 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil; Biocomplexity Institute and Department of Physics, Indiana University Bloomington, Bloomington, Indiana, 47405, United States of America; Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia - Sistemas Complexos, Av. Bento Gonçalves 9500, C.P. 15051 - 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.
authors.forename: Rita M C
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: de Almeida