arXiv subjects

Haohao Hao

Publications and source records attributed to Haohao Hao.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Cascade coalescence dynamically sustains bubble retention near gas-evolving surfaces

Bubble detachment from solid surfaces governs heat, mass, and charge transport across technologies vital to clean energy, including high-current-density water electrolysis and boiling thermal management. At high gas fluxes, however, bubbles remain trapped at active surfaces despite immense buoyancy, severely restricting mass transfer and increasing energy losses. Here, we show that this unexpected surface retention originates from cascade coalescence between unequal-sized bubbles. High-speed observations around microelectrodes demonstrate that when a rising bubble merges with a smaller surface-attached successor, its trajectory abruptly reverses, accelerating toward the substrate at nearly two orders of magnitude above its rising speed. Direct numerical simulations and scaling analysis reveal that asymmetric interfacial retraction during merging generates non-canceling viscous stresses, producing a net downward impulse toward the smaller bubble. Repeated cascade coalescence events accumulate these transient impulses into a steady, time-averaged retaining force capable of opposing buoyancy three to four orders of magnitude beyond quasistatic limits. Our findings establish bubble coalescence as a previously unrecognized mechanism that dynamically sustains bubble retention under high gas flux.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2026

Non-Monotonic Marangoni Suppression of Hydrodynamic Coarsening in Bicontinuous Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation

Hydrodynamic coarsening of bicontinuous domains is a central process in liquid-liquid phase separation, yet how soluble surfactants regulate this process remains poorly understood. Using a validated two-order-parameter phase-field model coupled to the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations, we show that hydrodynamic coarsening is suppressed primarily by surfactant-induced Marangoni stresses rather than by the reduction of mean interfacial tension alone. These stresses hinder interfacial coalescence, reorganize the local vortical flow, and thereby redirect the morphological evolution of bicontinuous domains. A central result is that this suppression depends non-monotonically on the surfactant Péclet number, with the strongest inhibition occurring at an intermediate value, $Pe_ψ=10$, rather than at $Pe_ψ=1$ or 100. Analyses of force evolution, interfacial surfactant statistics, and decomposed surfactant flux budgets show that this non-monotonicity arises from a competition between surfactant replenishment and gradient retention. At low $Pe_ψ$, diffusion efficiently replenishes the interface but smooths interfacial concentration gradients; at high $Pe_ψ$, advection preserves interfacial heterogeneity but leaves the interface insufficiently supplied with surfactant. The strongest suppression therefore occurs when sufficient interfacial surfactant loading coexists with persistent concentration gradients. These results establish a transport-controlled mechanism by which soluble surfactants regulate bicontinuous hydrodynamic coarsening.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

A Diffuse-Interface Marangoni Instability

We investigate a novel Marangoni-induced instability that arises exclusively in diffuse fluid interfaces, absent in classical sharp-interface models. Using a validated phase-field Navier-Stokes-Allen-Cahn framework, we linearize the governing equations to analyze the onset and development of interfacial instability driven by solute-induced surface tension gradients. A critical interfacial thickness scaling inversely with the Marangoni number, $δ_\mathrm{cr} \sim Ma^{-1}$, emerges from the balance between advective and diffusive transport. Unlike sharp-interface scenarios where matched viscosity and diffusivity stabilize the interface, finite thickness induces asymmetric solute distributions and tangential velocity shifts that destabilize the system. We identify universal power-law scalings of velocity and concentration offsets with a modified Marangoni number $Ma^δ$, independent of capillary number and interfacial mobility. A critical crossover at $Ma^δ\approx 590$ distinguishes diffusion-dominated stabilization from advection-driven destabilization. These findings highlight the importance of diffuse-interface effects in multiphase flows, with implications for miscible fluids, soft matter, and microfluidics where interfacial thickness and coupled transport phenomena are non-negligible.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2025

Profile-Preserving Phase-Field Model for Surfactant Transport and Adsorption-Desorption in Two-Phase Flow Systems

The diffuse-interface model for two-phase flows with soluble surfactants has garnered considerable attention due to its ability to circumvent the need for Robin boundary condition in the bulk surfactant transport equation. However, the coupling between surfactant concentration and the phase field within this framework underscores the importance of accurately resolving interfacial equilibrium profiles. To address this limitation, we have developed a profile-preserving phase-field model for simulating surfactant transport and adsorption-desorption in two-phase flow systems. This approach iteratively refines interfacial profiles and delta functions, removing concentration singularities and improving mass conservation. The effectiveness of the model is demonstrated through two benchmark simulations: surfactant transport in a vortex-deformed droplet, which quantitatively reveals reduced mass error over time, and adsorption-desorption dynamics on a stationary spherical interface, showing strong agreement with one-dimensional analytical solutions for surfactant concentration distributions. We further highlight the model's capability by simulating the settling behavior of a surfactant-laden droplet, underscoring the critical role of adsorption-desorption kinetics in governing droplet dynamics.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2024

Coalescence induced late departure of bubbles improves water electrolysis efficiency

In water electrolysis, bubbles form on the electrode and interact through processes such as collision and coalescence. However, the impact of bubble coalescence a fundamental process governing electrolytic bubble behaviour-on electrolysis efficiency remains unclear. Here, we show that enhancing bubble coalescence improves electrolysis efficiency by more than 30% compared to systems where coalescence is inhibited. One key feature is the continuous coalescence of a newly detached bubble with microbubbles on the electrode, which delays the former from departing. Experimental observations and numerical simulations reveal two key benefits of bubble coalescence for electrolysis efficiency: (1) it liberates surface bubbles from the electrode at much smaller sizes, reducing their diameter from approximately 60-80 um to less than 10 um, thus freeing the active sites of the electrode from bubble coverage; (2) it induces strong agitation, with velocities reaching 1m/s in a small region near the electrode (at a depth of 10-5 m), thereby significantly improving the heat/mass transfer locally. Importantly, the chaotic agitation effect lasts for approximately 10 ms, two orders of magnitude longer than the coalescence process, which occurs in around 0.2 ms. This work provides valuable insight into bubble management in water electrolysis and other gas-evolution electrochemical reactions.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2024

Enhanced Profile-Preserving Phase-Field model of Two-Phase Flow with Surfactant Interfacial Transport and Marangoni Effects

Using a regularized delta function to distribute surfactant interfacial concentration can simplify the computation of the surface gradient operator $\nabla_s$, enabling the phase-field model to effectively simulate Marangoni flows involving surfactant transport. However, the exact conservation of total surfactant mass is compromised due to deviation from the equilibrium phase field profile, numerical diffusion, and mass non-conservation in each phase. To overcome these limitations, we have developed a new model for simulating two-phase flow with surfactant transport along the interface. This model employs a profile-preserving strategy to maintain the equilibrium interface profile, ensuring accurate calculation of the regularized delta function and better surfactant mass conservation. Within the framework of the advective Chan-Hilliard phase-field model, we utilize a regularized delta function with a reduced gradient to minimize numerical diffusion. Furthermore, we introduce a hybrid surface tension model that integrates the free-energy and the continuum-surface force models to mitigate spatial discretization errors, particularly in scenarios with high density and viscosity ratio. Verification tests demonstrates the model's effectiveness in simulating surface diffusion on stationary and expanding drop, suppressing spurious currents, and capturing the deformation of two-dimensional drops in shear flow. The results closely align with analytical solutions and previous numerical studies. Finally, we apply the model to investigate the contraction and oscillation dynamics of a surfactant-laden liquid filament, revealing the role of the Marangoni force in shaping filament behavior.

physics.flu-dyn↗

arXiv2023

An Interfacial Profile-Preserving Approach for Phase Field Modeling of Incompressible Two-Phase Flows

In this paper, we introduce an interfacial profile-preserving approach for phase field modeling for simulating incompressible two-phase flows. While the advective Cahn-Hilliard equation effectively captures the topological evolution of complex interfacial structures, it tends to displace the fluid interface from its equilibrium state, impacting simulation accuracy. To tackle this challenge, we present an interfacial profile-preserving formulation that relies on a phase-field-related signed distance function, rather than the phase field function itself. It is solved iteratively to restore the equilibrium interface profile after each time step. This approach effectively minimizes discretization errors and enhances mass conservation accuracy for each phase. Our formulation is discretized using a second-order Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) Runge-Kutta method within iterations and a finite volume scheme in spatial discretization. We quantitatively compare our present profile-preserving method with the original method in terms of accuracy and convergence rate through simulations of a deforming drop in a single vortex and a rising bubble in quiescent fluid, and further validate the applicability through simulations of a two-dimensional contracting liquid filament, a drop impacting a deep liquid pool, and three-dimensional drop deformation in shear flow. Our results exhibit good agreement with analytical solutions, prior numerical results, and experimental data, demonstrating the effectiveness and accuracy of our proposed approach.

physics.flu-dyn↗