Bubble dynamics: a review and some recent results

Several aspects of small-amplitude oscillations of bubbles containing gas, vapor, or a gas-vapor mixture are discussed. An application to pressure-wave propagation in a bubbly liquid is described. Nonlinear forced oscillations are considered in the light of recent research on forced oscillations of nonlinear systems. The growth of vapor bubbles, an extension of the Rayleigh-Plesset equation to non-Newtonian liquids and appreciable mass transfer at the interface, and a boundary integral numerical method for nonspherical cavitation bubble dynamics are also briefly discussed.     

Evolution of a Small Distortion of the Spherical Shape of a Gas Bubble under Strong Expansion-Compression

The evolution of a small distortion of the spherical shape of a gas bubble which undergoes strong radial expansion-compression upon a single oscillation of the ambient liquid pressure under a harmonic law are analyzed by numerical experiments. It is assumed that the distortions of the spherical bubble shape are axisymmetric and have the form of individual spherical surface harmonics with numbers of 2–5. Bubble-shape oscillations prior to the beginning of expansion are taken into account. Generally, the distortion value during bubble expansion-compression depends on the phase of bubble-shape oscillation at the beginning of the expansion (initial phase). Emphasis is placed on the dependence of the maximum distortions in the initial phase at certain characteristic times of bubble expansion-compression on the amplitude of the external excitation, liquid viscosity, and distortion mode (harmonic number). The parameters of the problem are typical of the stable periodic sonolumiescence of an individual air bubble in water at room temperature. An exception is the liquid pressure oscillation amplitude, which is varied up to values that are five times the static pressure. That large excitation amplitudes are beyond the stability threshold of periodic oscillations of spherical bubbles. Their consideration is of interest from the point of view of increasing the compression ratio of the bubble gas, i. e., increasing the maximum temperature and density achievable in the final compression stage.__________Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 46, No. 4, pp. 17–28, July–August, 2005.     

Cavitation structures formed during the rebound of a sphere from a wetted surface

We use high-speed imaging to observe the dynamics of cavitation, caused by the impact and subsequent rebound of a sphere from a solid surface covered with a thin layer of highly viscous liquid. We note marked qualitative differences between the cavitation structures with increase in viscosity, as well as between Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids. The patterns observed are quite unexpected and intricate, appearing in concentric ring formations around the site of impact. In all cases, we identify a distinct radius from which the primary bubbles emanate. This radius is modelled with a modified form of Hertz contact theory. Within this radius, we show that some fine cavitation structure may exist or that it may be one large cavitation bubble. For the non-Newtonian fluids, we observe foam-like structures extending radially with diminishing bubble sizes with increase in radial position. Whereas for the Newtonian fluids, the opposite trend is observed with increasing bubble size for increasing radial position. Finally, we compare our experimental observations of cavitation to the maximum tension criterion proposed by Joseph (J Fluid Mech 366:367–378, 1998) showing that this provides the lower limit for the onset of cavitation in our experiments.     

Vibrations of a gas-filled spherical cavity in pseudoplastic and dilatant liquids

Questions of the dynamics of bubbles in a liquid are connected with problems of cavitation [1]. In connection with cavitation phenomena in non-Newtonian media, in particular in polymeric liquids [2, 3], a study is made of the pulsations of a bubble in a polymeric liquid with an exponential rheological law. The equation of the motion of the boundary of the gas cavity is integrated numerically; here, the cases of pseudo-plastic and dilatant liquids are discussed separately. The results obtained can be used in the analysis of acoustical cavitation in aqueous solutions of polymers.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 146–148, January–February, 1975.     

Optimization of shock-wave action on a spherical bubble in an ideal incompressible liquid

The possibility of controlling the oscillations of a spherical gas bubble in an ideal incompressible liquid is subjected to theoretical analysis. Liquid surface tension forces are not taken into account. The optimization process realizing a maximum of the radius amplitude and a maximum of the gas pressure in the bubble for a given impulsive change of pressure at infinity is considered. A shock-resonance bubble oscillation procedure giving stepwise pressure changes at the extrema of the radius is constructed. This problem is of interest in connection with the investigation of cavitation erosion [1] and processes in biological tissues [2–4]. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 175–178, September–October, 1988.     

Evolution of deviations from the spherical shape of a vapor bubble in supercompression

This paper considers the evolution of small deviations of a cavitation bubble from a spherical shape during its single compression under conditions of experiments on acoustic cavitation of deuterated acetone. Vapor motion in the bubble and the surrounding liquid is defined as a superposition of the spherical component and its non-spherical perturbation. The spherical component is described taking into account the nonstationary heat conductivity of the liquid and vapor and the nonequilibrium nature of the vaporization and condensation on the interface. At the beginning of the compression process, the vapor in the bubble is considered an ideal gas with a nearly uniform pressure. In the simulation of the high-rate compression stage, realistic equations of state are used. The non-spherical component of motion is described taking into account the effect of liquid viscosity, surface tension, vapor density in the bubble, and nonuniformity of its pressure. Estimates are obtained for the amplitude of small perturbations (in the form of harmonics of degree n = 2, 3, ... with the wavelength λ = 2πR/n, where R is the bubble radius) of the spherical shape of the bubble during its compression until reaching extreme values of pressure, density, and temperature. These results are of interest in the study of bubble fusion since the non-sphericity of the bubble prevents its strong compression.     

Forced oscillations of a gas bubble in a spherical volume of a compressible liquid

A spherically symmetric problem of oscillations of a single gas bubble at the center of a spherical flask filled with a compressible liquid under the action of pressure oscillations on the flask wall is considered. A system of differential-difference equations is obtained that extends the Rayleigh-Plesset equation to the case of a compressible liquid and takes into account the pressure-wave reflection from the bubble and the flask wall. A linear analysis of solutions of this system of equations is performed for the case of harmonic oscillations of the bubble. Nonlinear resonance oscillations and nearly resonance nonharmonic oscillations of the bubble caused by harmonic pressure oscillations on the flask wall are analyzed. Ufa Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa 450000. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 40, No. 2, pp. 111–118, March–April, 1999.     

Torsional oscillations of an infinite plate in an elastico-viscous fluid

Summary The equations of motion of an infinite plate performing torsional oscillations in Walters elastico-viscous liquid B have been solved by expanding the velocity profile in powers of the amplitude of oscillation of the plate. The first order solution consists of a transverse velocity and the second-order solution gives a radial-axial flow composed of a steady part and a fluctuating part. The steady part of the radial flow does not vanish outside the boundary layer and hence the equations are solved by another approximate method for the steady part of the flow. The effects of the non-Newtonian term is to increase the non-dimensional boundary layer to start with and subsequently to decrease it and to increase the shearing stress at the plate. The steady radial and the steady axial velocities fall short of the inelastic flow in the beginning but later on their values lie above.     

Effect of viscoelastic properties of a liquid on the dynamics of small oscillations of a gas bubble

A series of papers has been devoted to questions of gas bubble dynamics in viscoeiastic liquids. Of these papers we mention [1–4]. The radial oscillations of a gas bubble in an incompressible viscoeiastic liquid have been studied numerically in [1, 2] using Oldroyd's model [5]. Anexact solution was found in [3], and independently in [4], for the equation of small density oscillations of a cavity in an Oldroyd medium when there is a periodic pressure change at infinity. The analysis of bubble oscillations in a viscoeiastic liquid is complicated by properties of limiting transitions in the rheological equation of the medium. These properties are of particular interest for the problem under investigation. These properties are discussed below, and characteristics of the small oscillations of a bubble in an Oldroyd medium are investigated on the basis of a numerical analysis of the exact solution obtained in [3].Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Mekhaniki i Tekhnicheskoi Fiziki, No. 3, pp. 82–87, May–June, 1976.The authors are grateful to V. N. Nikolaevskii for useful advice and for discussing the results.     

Shape and stability of a liquid drop moving at low Weber numbers

The equilibrium cross sectional shape and stability of a liquid drop moving in a gaseous medium is studied analytically. Such liquid drops appear as the final product in numerous industrial spraying and atomisation processes. Raindrops falling at their terminal speed can also be described by the present model. The equilibrium shape is formed by the interaction of two main factors; the dynamic pressure distribution in the gaseous medium which tends to deform the liquid drop into an oblate shape and the surface tension which tends to restore the spherical shape. The meridional shape of the liquid drop is obtained as a power series in the Weber number. The linear stability of the deformed shapes described above to small surface disturbances is studied. The stability analysis shows the effect of the surrounding gas flow on the natural frequencies of oscillation (vibration) of the liquid drop. The liquid drop is found to be stable in the region of low Weber numbers studied with a decrease in oscillation frequency proportional to the Weber number. This is in agreement with existing experimental data. Extrapolation of the results here lead to a Weber number of W=5.33 for breakup, again in agreement with experimental correlations.     

Effect of weak compressibility of a fluid on bubble-bubble interaction in strong acoustic fields

The effect of weak compressibility of a fluid on the interaction between spherical bubbles in a strong acoustic field is considered. A small parameter ɛ which represents the ratio of the characteristic velocity of radial oscillations of the bubbles to the speed of sound in the fluid is used as a parameter characterizing the fluid compressibility. The equations governing the interaction between two bubbles are derived with an accuracy O(ɛ) in the case in which the ratio of the characteristic velocities of their translational and radial motions is of the order of ɛ. It is shown that neglecting the fluid compressibility effect due to the bubble interaction can lead to either enhancement or attenuation of their radial oscillations following the main compression stage, variation in the oscillation frequency, the bubble approach velocity, and the velocity of the spatial motion of the coupled pair, and the bubble approach and collision rather than their moving away from one another with the formation of a coupled pair.     

Forced oscillations of two gas bubbles in a fluid in the vicinity of bubble contact

For a theoretical derivation of bubble coalescence conditions, nonlinear forced oscillations of two closely spaced spherical bubbles subjected to the action of a periodic external pressure field are considered. The equations, asymptotic with respect to a small distance between the bubble surfaces, are derived to describe the approach of the bubbles under the action of (i) the Bjerknes attraction force averaged over the oscillation period and (ii) the viscous drag. It is shown that due to nonlinear interaction of the viscous drag with the radial and translational oscillations of the bubbles a unidirectional repulsive force is generated, which prevents the approach of the bubbles. The coalescence of the bubbles is possible when the nondimensional parameter combined from the amplitude and frequency of the external pressure field, the bubble radius, and the fluid viscosity is greater than a certain critical value. The obtained coalescence condition is qualitatively confirmed by experiments.     

Radial oscillations of soluble vapor-gas bubbles in a liquid

Soluble vapor-gas bubbles performing small radial oscillations in a liquid are considered. The heat- and mass-transfer processes and temperature and concentration inhomogeneities in the vaporgas mixture are taken into account. Expressions for the damping rate of radial oscillations of soluble vapor-gas bubbles are obtained. In [1–3] the dynamics of vapor-gas bubble oscillations were considered for a gas insoluble in liquid.     

Map of regimes of pressure oscillations induced by absorption during gas jet injection through a submerged nozzle

Map of regimes of pressure oscillations induced by absorption during rapid injection of a soluble gas jet through a submerged nozzle into liquid, namely, oscillations during absorption, bubbling, internal chugging and small chugging, is suggested. Boundaries between various pressure oscillations regimes occurring when rapidly soluble gas is absorbed in water are investigated theoretically. It is showed that these boundaries are determined by four equations. It is showed that regime of high-frequency pressure oscillations during absorption occurs due to gas bubble oscillations, and other regimes of oscillations occur due to pressure oscillations in the whole system comprising the header, vent tubes and gas bubble. The conditions for excitation of high-frequency and low-frequency oscillations and boundaries between different regimes of pressure pulsations are determined. In a case when Henri's law for soluble gases is valid the developed model predicts that oscillations during absorption are not excited.     

Prediction of mono-disperse gas–liquid turbulent flow in a vertical pipe

A two-fluid model in the Eulerian–Eulerian framework has been implemented for the prediction of gas volume fraction, mean phasic velocities, and the liquid phase turbulence properties for gas–liquid upward flow in a vertical pipe. The governing two-fluid transport equations are discretized using the finite volume method and a low Reynolds number $k-\varepsilon$ model is used to predict the turbulence field for the continuous liquid phase. In the present analysis, a fully developed one-dimensional flow is considered where the gas volume fraction profile is predicted using the radial force balance for the bubble phase. The current study investigates: (1) the turbulence modulation terms which represent the effect of bubbles on the liquid phase turbulence in the k–ε transport equations; (2) the role of the bubble induced turbulent viscosity compared to turbulence generated by shear; and (3) the effect of bubble size on the radial forces which results in either a center-peak or a wall-peak in the gas volume fraction profiles. The results obtained from the current simulation are generally in good agreement with the experimental data, and somewhat improved over the predictions of some previous numerical studies.     

Oscillation and breakup of a bubble under forced vibration

Coupled shape oscillations and translational motion of an incompressible gas bubble in a vibrating liquid container is studied numerically. The bubble oscillation characteristics are mapped based on the bubble Bond number (Bo) and the ratio of the vibration amplitude of the container to the bubble diameter (A/D). At small Bo and A/D, the bubble oscillation is found to be linear with small amplitudes, and at large Bo and A/D, it is nonlinear and chaotic. This chaotic bubble oscillation is similar to those observed in two coupled nonlinear systems, here being the gas inside the bubble and its surrounding liquid. Further increases in the forcing, results in the bubble breakup due to large liquid inertia.     

Gas bubble oscillations in a fluid in the presence of 2:1 resonance between the radial and deformation oscillation frequencies

Small nonlinear oscillations of an ellipsoidal bubble in a fluid in the presence of 2:1 frequency resonance between the radial and ellipsoidal modes are considered. The equations of motion are reduced to Hamiltonian form. The quadratic and cubic terms are taken into account in the expansion of the Hamiltonian. The Hamilton function is transformed to the normal form using the invariant normalization method in the first approximation. This makes it possible to construct an analogy between the system considered and the well-known problem of a pendulous spring. The radial and ellipsoidal bubble oscillation modes correspond to the vertical and horizontal coordinates of a material point, respectively. In the absence of resonance the solution of the nonlinear equations differs from the solution of the linear equations by only a small (quadratic in the amplitude) change in the oscillation frequency. In the resonance case the radial and ellipsoidal oscillation modes periodically change places and the energy of one mode is converted into that of the other. The interest in the system in resonance is associated with precisely this fact. The question of the dissipation effect in real media is considered. The decay rate depends significantly on the physical properties of the material and, in certain special cases, can be small enough for the energy transfer effect to manifest itself.     

Forced nonlinear oscillations of a gas bubble in a large spherical flask (resonator) filled with a fluid

Radial oscillations of a gas bubble in a large spherical flask filled with a fluid are considered. We derive an equation of the change of the bubble radius by the known law of pressure variation at the boundary of the liquid volume (the law of motion of the piston) for a period of time during which, repeatedly reflected from the piston, the leading front of the reflected-from-the bubble perturbations reaches the bubble. For further calculations of the change of the bubble radius, recurrent relations which include the wave reflected from the bubble in the previous cycle and its subsequent reflection from the piston are obtained. Under harmonic action of the piston on the fluid-bubble system, a certain periodic regime with a package of bubble oscillations is established. Institute of Mechanics, Ural Scientific Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, Ufa 450000. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 39, No. 5, pp. 77–87, September–October, 1998.     

On the modeling and simulation of a laser‐induced cavitation bubble

Single cavitation bubbles exhibit severe modeling and simulation difficulties. This is due to the small scales of time and space as well as due to the involvement of different phenomena in the dynamics of the bubble. For example, the compressibility, phase transition, and the existence of a noncondensable gas inside the bubble have strong effects on the dynamics of the bubble. Moreover, the collapse of the bubble involves the occurrence of critical conditions for the pressure and temperature. This adds extra difficulties to the choice of equations of state. Even though several models and simulations have been used to study the dynamics of the cavitation bubbles, many details are still not clearly accounted for. Here, we present a numerical investigation for the collapse and rebound of a laser‐induced cavitation bubble in liquid water. The compressibility of the liquid and vapor are involved. In addition, great focus is devoted to study the effects of phase transition and the existence of a noncondensable gas on the dynamics of the collapsing bubble. If the bubble contains vapor only, we use the six‐equation model for two‐phase flows that was modified in our previous work [A. Zein, M. Hantke, and G. Warnecke, J. Comput. Phys., 229(8):2964‐2998, 2010]. This model is an extension to the six‐equation model with a single velocity of Kapila et al. (Phys. Fluid, 13:3002‐3024, 2001) taking into account the heat and mass transfer. To study the effect of a noncondensable gas inside the bubble, we add a third phase to the original model. In this case, the phase transition is considered only at interfaces that separate the liquid and its vapor. The stiffened gas equations of state are used as closure relations. We use our own method to determine the parameters to obtain reasonable equations of state for a wide range of temperatures and make them suitable for the phase transition effects. We compare our results with experimental ones. Also our results confirm some expected physical phenomena. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Chaotic behavior of a single spherical gas bubble surrounded by a Giesekus liquid: A numerical study

In the present work, nonlinear oscillations of a spherical, acoustically driven gas bubble in a Giesekus liquid are examined numerically. A novel approach based on the Gauss–Laguerre quadrature (GLQ) method is implemented to solve the integro-differential equation governing bubble dynamics in a Giesekus liquid. It is shown that, using this robust method, numerical results could be obtained at very high amplitudes and frequencies typical of ultrasound applications. The GLQ method also enabled obtaining results at very high Deborah and Reynolds numbers over prolonged dimensionless times not reported previously. Based on the results obtained in this work, it is concluded that the GLQ method is well suited for bubble dynamics studies in viscoelastic liquids. It is also concluded that the extensional-flow behavior of the liquid surrounding the bubble (as represented by the mobility factor in the Giesekus model) has a strong effect on the chaotic behavior of the bubble, and this is particularly so at high Deborah numbers, high amplitudes and/or high frequencies of the acoustic field. A period-doubling bifurcation structure is predicted to occur for certain values of the mobility factor.