Fundamental Study of CBA-blown Bubble Growth and Collapse Under Atmospheric Pressure

Abstract

This article focuses on gaining a fundamental understanding of the bubble growth and collapse phenomena in a chemical blowing agent (CBA)based foaming process under atmospheric pressure. The behavior of CBA-blown bubbles exposed to various processing conditions is observed using a hot-stage optical microscope-based image processing system. A mathematical model that accounts for the effects of diffusion, surface tension, viscosity, and elasticity has been employed. It has been found that the processing temperature, diffusivity, and gas bulk concentration have dominant effects on the life span of CBA-blown bubbles.