A general and introductory survey of foams, emulsions and cellular materials. Foams and emulsions are illustrations of some fundamental concepts in statistical thermodynamics, rheology, elasticity and the physics and chemistry of divided media and interfaces. They also give rise to some of the most beautiful geometrical shapes and tilings, ordered or disordered. The chapters are grouped into sections having fairly loose boundaries. Each chapter is intelligible alone, but cross referencing means that the few concepts that may not be familiar to the reader can be found in other chapters in the book. Audience: Research students, researchers and teachers in physics, physical chemistry, materials science, mechanical engineering and geometry.

In 1978 a literature search on selective blocking of fluid flow in porous media was done by Professor S.S. Marsden and two of his graduate students, Tom Elson and Kern Huppy. This was presented as SUPRI Report No. TR-3 entitled ''Literature Preview of the Selected Blockage of Fluids in Thermal Recovery Projects.'' Since then a lot of research on foam in porous media has been done on the SUPRI project and a great deal of new information has appeared in the literature. Therefore we believed that a new, up-to-date search should be done on foam alone, one which would be helpful to our students and perhaps of interest to others. This is a chronological survey showing the development of foam flow, blockage and use in porous media, starting with laboratory studies and eventually getting into field tests and demonstrations. It is arbitrarily divided into five-year time periods. 81 refs.

Explores the foam fundamentals, including bulk foam stability and antifoaming, foams in porous media, and foam sensitivity to oil in porous media. Discusses the application of foams to improving oil recovery in porous media. Presents the application of foams to oilwell and near-well petroleum production. Describes foams in surface processes. Includes a comprehensive glossary of foam terminology.

This volume discusses the physics and physical processes of foam and foaming. It delineates various measurement techniques for characterizing foams and foam properties as well as the chemistry and application of foams. The use of foams in the textile industry, personal care products, enhanced oil recovery, firefighting and mineral floatation are highlighted, and the connection between the microstructure and physical properties of foam are detailed. Coverage includes nonaqueous foams and silicone antifoams, and more.

Ordinary foams such as the head of a glass of beer and more exotic ones such as solid metallic foams raise many questions for the physicist and have attracted a substantial research community in recent years. The present book describes the results of extensive experiments, computer simulations, and theories in an authoritative yet informal style, making ample use of illustrations and photographs. As an introduction to the whole field of the physics of foams it puts a strong emphasis on liquids while also including solid foams. Simple, idealized models are adopted and their consequences explored. Specific topics include: structure, drainage, rheology, conductivity, and coarsening. A minimum of mathematics is used. Theory and experiment are described together at every stage. A guide to further reading is provided through carefully selected references. This is a complete and coherent introduction to the subject which no other modern text currently offers.