Study on the Motion Characteristics of Floating Bubbles near the Wall Based on OpenFOAM

Abstract In this study, the dynamic characteristics of microscale floating bubbles near the vertical wall are studied. This occurrence is common in industrial and natural phenomena. Although many studies have been conducted on microscale bubbles, few studies investigate floating bubbles with very small Reynolds number ( Re ) near the wall, which is the main research goal of this study. Therefore, this study establishes a model for the ascent of small-scale bubbles near a vertical wall using the interFoam solver in OpenFOAM. This study investigates the influences of diverse viscosity parameters, varying distances from the wall, and different gas flow rates on the terminal velocity, deformation, and motion trajectory of bubbles. The results reveal that as liquid viscosity increases, the Re of bubbles gradually decreases and reaches a minimum of 0.012, which is similar to the Re of micrometer-sized bubbles in water. The characteristics of the wall-induced force in the longitudinal direction are closely related to the changes in liquid viscosity. Under low-viscosity conditions, the induced lift is the principal form of action, whereas under high-viscosity conditions, it is primarily manifested as induced drag.