Networklike propagation of cell-level stress in sheared random foams.

Quasistatic simple shearing flow of random monodisperse soap froth is investigated by analyzing surface evolver simulations of spatially periodic foams. Elastic-plastic behavior is caused by irreversible topological rearrangements (T1s) that occur when Plateau's laws are violated; the first T1 determines the elastic limit and frequent T1 avalanches sustain the yield-stress plateau at large strains. The stress and shape anisotropy of individual cells is quantified by Q, a scalar derived from an interface tensor that gauges the cell's contribution to the global stress.

Structure of random foam.

The Surface Evolver was used to compute the equilibrium microstructure of dry soap foams with random structure and a wide range of cell-size distributions. Topological and geometric properties of foams and individual cells were evaluated. The theory for isotropic Plateau polyhedra describes the dependence of cell geometric properties on their volume and number of faces.

Structure of random monodisperse foam.

The Surface Evolver was used to calculate the equilibrium microstructure of random monodisperse soap froth, starting from Voronoi partitions of randomly packed spheres. The sphere packing has a strong influence on foam properties, such as E (surface free energy) and (average number of faces per cell). This means that random foams composed of equal-volume cells come in a range of structures with different topological and geometric properties.