Project description
Isogeometric analysis for the description of a surfactant spreading in a thin liquid film
Introduction
The study of the spreading of surfactants is well known in many industrial and medical applications. This topic is important to improve the efficiency of the coating by surfactants because of the non-uniform coating present in both soluble and insoluble surfactants in liquid films. The complexity of the physics and the experiments caused researchers to use the aid of computational tools and many works have been performed using numerical simulations.
Description
The numerical simulations in this project describe how once a drop of surfactant is deposited on a thin liquid film over a surface, the initial difference between the lower surface tension of surfactant and the higher surface tension of surfactant-free thin film triggers the spreading of surfactant on the surface of the thin film. This spreading process is mainly driven by the surface tension gradient (which is induced by the gradient in surfactant concentration) and causes a so-called Marangoni flow, where the irregularities of the surface (rugosity) may initiate the fingering instabilities.
Benefits:
The development of this project allows us to understand how to create aerosol medicines for people that suffer from asthma and lung dysfunctions syndromes related to poor lubrication of the breathing system, along with the industrial creation of foams.
Execution time:
2019 – 2020
Required equipment:
- Workstation
Budget:
Pilot: 24.000 $
Probability of functionality:
100%.
Collaborator:
The European community fully funded the project at our sponsor Bauhaus University with the grant Horizon 2020.
Anexo:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/342849565_Isogeometric_analysis_of_insoluble_surfactant_spreading_on_a_thin_film/figures
