This thesis addresses aspects of the transport of bubbles and capsules (a thin elastic membrane enclosing a viscous fluid) by means of a viscous flow in complex vessel geometries. It focusses on two related themes: (i) the trapping of air bubbles in a sudden streamwise tube expansion and (ii) the extreme deformation of bubbles and capsules in a localised tube constriction. Air bubbles of different volumes were trapped in a tube with a square cross-section, which contains a sudden streamwise expansion in tube width. The liquid filling the tube was driven by constant volume-flux flow, and experiments were performed in both millimetric and micrometric tubes to identify the range of flow rates for which bubbles could get trapped. The gradients in surface energy generated by the broadening of the bubble into the expansion depend strongly on bubble volume and the expansion length. It is shown that in order for a trapped bubble to release from the expansion, the work of the pressure forces due to flow past the bubble must exceed the change in surface energy required to squeeze into the narrower channel. This criterion for trapping was verified by direct pressure measurements and a capillary static model, which uses three-dimensional Surface Evolver calculations. The extreme deformation of bubbles and capsules was investigated using a localised constriction of the tube width. Both bubbles and capsules were shown to adopt highly contorted configurations and exhibit broadly similar features over a wide range of flow rates, suggesting that the deformation was primarily imposed by the geometry through viscous shear forces. However, bubbles and capsules also display distinguishing features. Bubbles can breakup and exhibit thinning of the rear of the bubble at a critical flow rate, which is associated with a divergence of the rear tip speed and curvature. In contrast, the capsule membrane can wrinkle and fold, and the membrane thickness imposes the value of the maximum curvature locally available to the capsule.

Cette thèse est consacrée à l’étude du drainage dans des micromodèles de milieu poreux. Les techniques classiques de microfluidique (verre, PDMS) sont utilisées pour la réalisation de poreux modèles 2D de type grille. Des techniques de traitement de surface permettent de faire varier les conditions de mouillage. Le mouillage total, pseudo-partiel et partiel est étudié. Des méthodes d’analyse d’images sont développées afin de quantifier les vitesses locales lors de l’invasion du milieu poreux, vitesses qui sont ensuite comparées aux vitesses imposées. Ces données mettent en évidence avant percolation des comportements très différents selon la nature du mouillage. Un modèle permet de rendre compte des phénomènes observés. Nous expliquons pourquoi l’évolution après la percolation diffère selon la nature du mouillage. Enfin, l’influence de la rhéologie du fluide pousseur est abordée, celle d’un balayage initial à l’eau à très faible nombre capillaire également. / Drainage experiments in model porous media are performed. Our 2D micromodels consist of a regular network; they are made in glass or in PDMS. The wetting properties of the chip vary from total, pseudo-partial to partial wetting. Experiments are performed under flow rate control. Taking advantages of microfluidic devices, local velocities of the injected fluid are measured. The average of all these local velocities is compared to the velocity imposed by the syringe pump. Before percolation, the invasion percolation process for all wetting cases is studied. Depending on the wetting properties, several behaviours are observed. We develop a model to explain our experimental data. After percolation, the effects of wetting are huge; we explain why oil could remain trapped or not. Finally, we consider the influence of rheology by injecting non Newtonian liquids as pushing fluids, and also the effects of preferential paths.

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