Izvestiya of Saratov University.

Physics

ISSN 1817-3020 (Print)
ISSN 2542-193X (Online)

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Isaeva E. A., Isaeva A. A., Alonova M. V. Acoustic emission method for analyzing the structural evolution of foam-like media. Izvestiya of Saratov University. Physics , 2026, vol. 26, iss. 2, pp. 225-232. DOI: 10.18500/1817-3020-2026-26-2-225-232, EDN: XHJCGF

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC-BY 4.0).
Published online: 
30.06.2026
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Language: 
Russian
Heading: 
Nanotechnologies, nanomaterials and metamaterials
Article type: 
Article
UDC: 
534.08
DOI: 
10.18500/1817-3020-2026-26-2-225-232
EDN: 
XHJCGF

Acoustic emission method for analyzing the structural evolution of foam-like media

Autors: 
Isaeva Elena Andreevna, Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov
Isaeva Anna Andreevna, Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov
Alonova Marina Vasil'evna, Yuri Gagarin State Technical University of Saratov
Abstract: 

Background and Objectives: In metastable gas-liquid foams, structural rearrangement occurs during their evolution under conditions of local mass transfer of the liquid and gas components of the system. Rearrangement and coalescence events of gas bubbles will be reflected in the foam’s acoustic emission spectrum. Structural modification of gas-liquid foams under conditions of constant volume fractions of liquid and gas is governed by capillary forces, film thickness, and the area of the foam’s liquid films. This work examines the typical behavior of the acoustic emission spectrum of a gas-liquid foam in the low-frequency region, considering the scaling dependence of the average gas cell radius on time. Materials and Methods: The acoustic emission spectrum of a model gas-liquid foam was studied during its evolution in the low–frequency range. Using microscopy methods, the temporal dependencies of changes in the average foam gas cell size were obtained. Results: The time dependence of the average size of gas cells in a model gas–liquid foam exhibits a characteristic power-law dependence on time with an exponent of 0.5. The recorded acoustic signal is generated by a set of coalescence and rearrangement events of gas cells within the medium and, during foam evolution, will be described by a characteristic spatial scale proportional to the average bubble size 〈R(t)〉. Conclusion: The possibility of using acoustic emission signal analysis to study the structural modifications in a metastable two-component system during its evolution under self-similarity conditions has been demonstrated. It has been shown that the scaling laws governing the evolution of the gas-liquid foam’s emission spectra and the dependence of the average gas cell radius reflect the dynamic self-similarity. The comparison of critical exponents allows us to analyze the kinetics of local inhomogeneity changes and the morphological evolution of the two-component system.

Key words: 
acoustic emission
gas-liquid foam
self-similarity
scaffolds
Acknowledgments: 
The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation (project No. 25-29-00679, https://rscf.ru/project/25-29-00679/).
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Received: 
08.12.2025
Accepted: 
07.04.2026
Published: 
30.06.2026
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