Analytical steady-state solutions for pressure with a multiscale non-local model for two-fluid systems

TL;DR

This paper derives analytical steady-state pressure solutions for a nonlocal multiscale model of two-fluid systems, revealing how pressure profiles and surface tension behavior align with molecular dynamics and experimental observations at different scales.

Contribution

It provides explicit analytical solutions for pressure in a nonlocal two-fluid model, bridging microscopic and macroscopic behaviors and extending the understanding of surface tension effects.

Findings

Pressure changes continuously across interfaces, matching MD simulations.

Pressure difference follows Young-Laplace law for large radii, deviates for small radii.

Surface tension decreases with decreasing radius, consistent with experiments.

Abstract

We consider the nonlocal multiscale model for surface tension \citep{Tartakovsky2018} as an alternative to the (macroscale) Young-Laplace law. The nonlocal model is obtained in the form of an integral of a molecular-force-like function with support $\varepsilon$ added to the Navier-Stokes momentum conservation equation. Using this model, we calculate analytical forms for the steady-state equilibrium pressure gradient and pressure profile for circular and spherical bubbles and flat interfaces in two and three dimensions. According to the analytical solutions, the pressure changes continuously across the interface in a way that is quantitatively similar to what is observed in MD simulations. Furthermore, the pressure difference $P_{\varepsilon, in} - P_{\varepsilon, out}$ satisfies the Young-Laplace law for the radius of curvature greater than $3\varepsilon$ and deviates from the Young-Laplace law otherwise (i.e., $P_{\varepsilon, in} - P_{\varepsilon, out}$ goes to zero as the radius of the curvature goes to zero, where $P_{\varepsilon, out}$ is the pressure outside of the bubble at the distance greater than $3\varepsilon$ from the interface and $P_{\varepsilon, in}$ is the pressure at the center of the bubble). The latter indicates that the surface tension in the proposed model decreases with the decreasing radius of curvature, which agrees with molecular dynamics simulations and laboratory experiments with nanobubbles. Therefore, our results demonstrate that the nonlocal model behaves microscopically at scales smaller than $\varepsilon$ and macroscopically, otherwise.