Effect of non-homogeneous surface viscosity on the Marangoni migration of a droplet in viscous fluid

Marangoni migration of a single droplet in an unbounded viscous fluid under the additional effect of variable surface viscosity is studied. The surface tension and the surface viscosity depend on concentration of dissolved species. Cases of the motion induced by the presence of a point source and by a given constant concentration gradient are considered. The dependence of the migration velocity on the governing parameters is computed under quasi-stationary approximation. The effect of weak advective transport is studied making use of singular perturbations in the Peclet number, Pe  . It is shown that, when the source is time dependent a Basset-type history term appears in the expansion of the concentration and, as a result, the leading order correction to the flow and to the migration velocity is of O(Pe1/2)O(Pe1/2). If the source of active substance driving the flow is steady, the effect of convective transport on the migration is weaker.

Graphical abstractMarangoni migration of a droplet under the effect of variable surface viscosity is studied. Surface properties depend on a concentration of dissolved species undergoing diffusive and weak advective transport.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide