Age dependence of the drag force in an aqueous foam

The drag force on a sphere moving through an aqueous foam is measured as the foam ages. After an initial period, the steady-state drag decreases with age T as T ^{−0.54±0.14}. As the mean bubble size R in the foam coarsens as T ^0.5, this implies that the drag force scales as \(1/\overline{R} .\) The transient buildup of the force when the sphere starts to move is described by a single exponential approach to the steady-state drag while its relaxation when the motion stops is described by the sum of three exponential relaxations. This is as for fresh foam, but the coefficients and time constants vary systematically with age. For the most part, these quantities also show a power law scaling with T. The age dependence of the quantities determined in this study is discussed in terms of the mean bubble size.