Rheologica Acta, Vol.50, No.4, 375-387, 2011
Interaction of viscous drops in a yield stress material
The interaction of Newtonian drops of various volumes moving in yield stress material is investigated experimentally. Tetrachloroethylene drops move in a rectangular reservoir filled with neutralized 0.07% w/w Carbopol gel under the action of gravity. For initially vertically aligned drop pairs, we present time evolution of separation distance, velocities during the interaction and conditions for coalescence of the drops, which depend on the volumes of the drops and the initial separation between them. For the asymmetric interaction of the pairs, we present interaction patterns, which have been used for estimation of the size of the yielded region and its shape around the leading drop.