An Analysis of Wave Propagation in Bubbly Two-Component, Two-Phase Flow

Wave propagation in bubbly two-phase, two-component flow was analyzed to assess the validity of some interfacial transfer laws for two-fluid models of two-phase flow. A dispersion relation was derived from the linearized conservation equations and the Rayleigh equation. The phase velocity and wave attenuation calculated from the dispersion relation, compared well with existing high- and low-frequency data. The virtual mass term was found to have a significant effect on wave dispersion in the bubbly flow regime. Thermal effects were found to be important in determining the resonance phenomenon and wave scattering was a major source of damping at frequencies higher than the resonance frequency.