Levitation and dynamics of bodies in supersaturated fluids

A body immersed in a supersaturated fluid can accumulate a dynamic field of bubbles on its surface. If mobile, these attached bubbles can lift the body against gravity; upon reaching the fluid–air interface, surface cleaning removes bubbles, the body sinks, and the cycle repeats while dissolved-gas levels permit. Experiments with fixed and freely moving bodies characterize force development and gas escape. A continuum model with a dynamic surface-buoyancy field predicts mass/size and fluid-property regimes with strong oscillations versus suppressed excursions. Simulations probe regimes dominated by few large bubbles. Body rotations at the surface are critical for periodic vertical motions of large bodies, producing wobbling, rolling, and damped surface bouncing.

Saverio E. Spagnolie, Samuel Christianson, Carsen Grote