Thermocapillary migration of bubbles and drops at moderate values of the Marangoni number in reduced gravity

Experiments were performed on the motion of isolated drops and bubbles in a Dow-Corning silicone oil under the action of an applied temperature gradient in a reduced gravity environment aboard the NASA Space Shuttle in orbit. Images of the interior of the test cell during these experiments were recorded on cine film and later analyzed to obtain data on the migration velocity as a function of size and the applied temperature gradient. The data are presented in scaled form. Predictions are available in the case of gas bubbles, and it is found that the scaled velocity decreases with increasing Marangoni number qualitatively as expected even though there are quantitative discrepancies. The scaled velocity also appears to approach a theoretical asymptote predicted in the limit of large values of the Marangoni number for Stokes motion. Finally, sample results from a preliminary experiment on a pair of drops are presented. They display the remarkable feature that a small drop which leads a large drop in a temperature gradient can significantly retard the motion of the large trailing drop while itself moving as though it is virtually unaffected by the presence of the large drop.