Local description of foam flow, deformation and pressure drop in narrow constricted channels

We study in extensive detail the flow of dry and wet gas-liquid foams through a narrow two-dimensional channel comprising a complex constriction. The effects of constriction profile and size of aperture, foam flowrate, liquid holdup and liquid viscosity are experimentally investigated and a sophisticated image analysis procedure is developed to extract local fields of foam flow and deformation. Foam dynamics are scrutinised and interpreted in terms of local velocity distribution, elastic strain (texture tensor), plastic deformation (T1 events) and pressure drop. Important foam transformations occur in the vicinity of the constriction. For the first time, the relationship between pressure drop, flowrate and size of constriction aperture is investigated.