A numerical study of weak shock wave propagation in a reactive bubbly liquid

A numerical study is presented on the response of a weakly shock compressed liquid column that contains reactive gas bubbles. Both the liquid and gas are considered compressible. Compressibility of the liquid allows calculation of shock and rarefaction waves in the pure liquid as well as in the gas/liquid mixture. A microscopic model for local bubble collapse is coupled with a macroscopic model of wave propagation through the gas/liquid mixture. In the particular cases presented here, the characteristic times of propagation of the shock wave and bubble collapse are of the same order of magnitude. Consequently, the coupling between various phenomena is very strong. The present model based on fundamental principles of two-phase fluid mechanics takes into account the coupling of localized bubble oscillations. This model is composed of a microscopic one in the scale of a bubble size, and a macroscopic one which is based on the mixture theory. The liquid under study is water, and the gas is a reactive mixture of argon, hydrogen and oxygen. Received 18 December 1995 / Accepted 2 June 1996