Ph. Hadland et al., Thermocapillary migration of bubbles and drops at moderate to large Marangoni number and moderate Reynolds number in reduced gravity, EXP FLUID, 26(3), 1999, pp. 240-248
Results from experiments on the thermocapillary migration of air bubbles an
d Fluorinert drops in a Dow-Coming silicone oil aboard a NASA Space Shuttle
mission are presented and discussed. The experiments cover a wider range o
f Marangoni and Reynolds numbers than that attained in a prior flight exper
iment. The data are consistent with earlier results, and are compared with
theoretical predictions. Large air bubbles were found to deform slightly in
shape to oblate spheroids while the deformation of even the largest drops
was within the uncertainty of the size measurements.