Instability of bubbly jets subjected to unrelaxed axial elastic tension

Abstract

Injection of bubbly jets is a critical process in various fields, such as fuel atomization and petrochemicals. However, existing instability models for bubbly jets have predominantly focused on density variations due to bubble compressibility, largely neglecting the impact of bubbles on the macroscopic rheological properties of the mixture. In this study, we have integrated compressibility with non-Newtonian properties induced by bubbles to explore the evaluation of jet perturbations. Additionally, considering bubble pre-deformation before injection, we particularly examine the role of unrelaxed axial elastic tension in the bubbly jets. Both linear stability analysis and energy budget methods are used to illustrate the contributions of viscosity, elasticity, and compressibility. The results indicate that the viscoelastic effects induced by bubbles can significantly outweigh the effects of compressibility during the jet destabilization process. Notably, a slight unrelaxed tension can markedly increase both the perturbation growth rate and the cutoff wavenumber, potentially making it a more dominant driver of jet instability than the classical surface tension.