Cavitation bubble collapse in nonlinear viscous and viscoplastic media

The problem of the collapse of a bubble in nonlinear viscous and viscoplastic media under the influence of pressure at infinity is solved numerically. The pressure at which the radius of the bubble begins to decrease, the limiting radius of the bubble in the viscoplastic case and the critical collapse pressure where there is no plastic component are found. The critical pressure is found to be an order smaller than the corresponding value for a Newtonian viscous fluid. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No.2, pp. 181–184, March–April, 1994.     

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.     

Single cavitation bubble generation and observation of the bubble collapse flow induced by a pressure wave

This study utilizes a U-shape platform device to generate a single cavitation bubble for a detailed analysis of the flow field characteristics and the cause of the counter jet during the process of bubble collapse caused by sending a pressure wave. A high speed camera is used to record the flow field of the bubble collapse at different distances from a solid boundary. It is found that a Kelvin–Helmholtz vortex is formed when a liquid jet penetrates the bubble surface after the bubble is compressed and deformed. If the bubble center to the solid boundary is within one to three times the bubble’s radius, a stagnation ring will form on the boundary when impinged by the liquid jet. The fluid inside the stagnation ring will be squeezed toward the center of the ring to form a counter jet after the bubble collapses. At the critical position, where the bubble center from the solid boundary is about three times the bubble’s radius, the bubble collapse flow will vary. Depending on the strengths of the pressure waves applied, the collapse can produce a Kelvin–Helmholtz vortex, the Richtmyer–Meshkov instability, or the generation of a counter jet flow. If the bubble surface is in contact with the solid boundary, the liquid jet can only move inside-out without producing the stagnation ring and the counter jet; thus, the bubble collapses along the radial direction. The complex phenomenon of cavitation bubble collapse flows is clearly manifested in this study.     

Multivelocity effects in high-pressure-gradient flows of dilute bubbly media

The multivelocity effects associated with the behavior of gas or vapor bubbles in a region with high pressure gradients typical of the flows around a cavity in which the pressure is higher than that in the surrounding space are considered. For a low volume bubble concentration, the problem of fluid flow perturbation by the bubbles is examined. For gas bubbles, it is shown that taking multivelocity effects into account considerably reduces the additional jet momentum. It is found that, with time, the temperature distribution in the wake behind a vapor bubble becomes nonmonotonic and the maximum temperature may even exceed the initial bubble temperature. It is demonstrated that the bubbles may accumulate and a flow regime with a sharply pronounced two-phase jet extending to the outer edge of the main liquid jet may develop. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 1, pp. 87–100, January–February, 1998. The work received financial support from the Russian Foundation for Fundamental Research (project No.96-01-01442).     

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.     

Shock structure in bubbly liquids: comparison of direct numerical simulations and model equations

Shock wave structure in a bubbly mixture composed of a cluster of gas bubbles in a quiescent liquid with initial void fractions around 10% inside a 3D rectangular domain excited by a sudden increase in the pressure at one boundary is investigated using the front tracking/finite volume method. The effects of bubble/bubble interactions and bubble deformations are, therefore, investigated for further modeling. The liquid is taken to be incompressible while the bubbles are assumed to be compressible. The gas pressure inside the bubbles is taken uniform and is assumed to vary isothermally. Results obtained for the pressure distribution at different locations along the direction of propagation show the characteristics of one-dimensional unsteady shock propagation evolving towards steady-state. The steady-state shock structures obtained by the present direct numerical simulations, which show a transition from A-type to C-type steady-state shock structures, are compared with those obtained by the classical Rayleigh–Plesset equation and by a modified Rayleigh–Plesset equation accounting for bubble/bubble interactions in the mean-field theory.      

Parametric Analysis for a Single Collapsing Bubble

This work presents a sensitivity analysis for cavitation processes, studying in detail the effect of various model parameters on the bubble collapse. A complete model (Hauke et al. Phys Rev E 75:1–14, 2007) is used to obtain how different parameters influence the collapse in SBSL experiments, providing some clues on how to enhance the bubble implosion in real systems. The initial bubble radius, the frequency and the amplitude of the pressure wave are the most important parameters determining under which conditions cavitation occurs. The range of bubble sizes inducing strong implosions for different frequencies is computed; the initial radius is the most important parameter characterized the intensity of the cavitation processes. However, other parameters like the gas and liquid conductivity or the liquid viscosity can have an important effect under certain conditions. It is shown that mass transfer processes play an important role in order to correctly predict the trends related with the effect of the liquid temperature, which translates into the bubble dynamics. Moreover, under some particular circumstances, evaporation can be encountered during the bubble collapse; this can be profitably exploited in order to feed reactants when the most extreme conditions inside the bubbles are reached. Thus, this paper aims at providing a global assessment of the effect of the different parameters on the entire cycle of a single cavitating spherical bubble immersed in an ultrasonic field. This work has been partially supported by Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnologia, under grant number CTM2004-06184-C02-02.     

Diffusion stability of bubbles in a cluster

The diffusion stability of gas bubbles in one-fraction and two-fraction clusters subjected to an acoustic field is studied. For a one-fraction cluster, numerical values were obtained for the initial gas concentrations in the liquid at which the bubble tends to one of two equilibrium states because of diffusion processes between the bubble and the ambient liquid. It is found that a two-fraction cluster tends to become a one-fraction cluster. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 40–48, July–August, 2007.     

Trapped Gas Fraction During Steady-State Foam Flow

Trapped or stationary gas contributes significantly to the extent of gas mobility reduction for aqueous foams. Simultaneous measurements of effluent bubble sizes and trapped gas saturation in sandstone are reported for the first time. Roughly 80% of the gas saturation in an aqueous foam is stationary at steady state in this permeable porous medium. The experiments show that as gas velocity increases, the trapped gas fraction decreases. Similarly, as injected gas–liquid ratio increases, the trapped gas fraction decreases. Hence, the absolute velocities of gas and aqueous surfactant solution are fundamental to foamed-gas mobility reduction for they help determine in situ foam texture. Effluent foam bubbles range in size from 60 to 120 μm in diameter. The smaller the effluent bubble, the smaller is the fraction of mobile gas. Scaling laws from network percolation theory are used to engender a mechanistic understanding of the various parameters identified as important in the experimental program. The closed form approimation predicts that the trapped gas fraction is a weak function of pressure gradient, foam-bubble size, and the permeability of the porous medium. Moreover, the theory reproduces well the newly obtained experimental data.     

Propagation of nonlinear waves in an inhomogeneous gas-liquid medium. Derivation of wave equations in the Korteweg-de Vries approximation

Equations describing the propagation of waves of small but finite amplitude in a liquid with gas bubbles are derived. The bubble distribution density is a continuous function of bubble size and spatial coordinates. It is found that, for a uniform bubble distribution, the obtained equations become the Korteweg-de Vries, Kadomtsev-Petviashvili and Khokhlov-Zabolotskaya equations. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 50, No. 2, pp. 188–197, March–April, 2009.     

Linearized Burnett Equation for the Dynamic Pressure of a Relativistic Gas

The linearized Burnett equation for the dynamic pressure of a relativistic gas of hadrons is calculated from a relativistic kinetic theory. It is shown, as in a previous paper [1], that the coefficient of the term with a non-homogeneous temperature field, – the heating term – is bigger than the one with the divergence of the four-velocity, – the bulk viscosity term.     

Characterization of wettability effects on pressure drop of two-phase flow in microchannel

The Characterization of the effects of surface wettability and geometry on pressure drop of slug flow in isothermal horizontal microchannels is investigated for circular and square channels with hydraulic diameter (D _h ) of 700 μm. Flow visualization is employed to characterize the bubble in slug flow established in microchannels of various surface wettabilities. Pressure drop increases with decrease in surface wettability, while the channel geometry influences slug frequency. It is observed that the gas–liquid contact line in advancing and receding interfaces of bubble change with surface wettability in slug flows. Flow resistance, where capillary force is important, is estimated using Laplace–Young equation considering the change of dynamic contact angles of bubble. The experimental study also demonstrates that the liquid film presence elucidates the pressure drop variation of slug flows at various surface wettabilities due to diminishing capillary effect.     

Effect of chamber pressure on spreading and splashing of liquid drops upon impact on a dry smooth stationary surface

Liquid drop impacts on a smooth surface were studied at elevated chamber pressures to characterize the effect of gas pressure on drop spreading and splashing. Five common liquids were tested at impact speeds between 1.0 and 3.5 m/s and pressure up to 12 bars. Based on experiments at atmospheric pressure, a modification to the “free spreading” model (Scheller and Bousfield in AIChE Paper 41(6):1357–1367, 1995) has been proposed that improves the prediction accuracy of maximum spread factors from an error of 15–5%. At high chamber pressures, drop spreading and maximum spread factor were found to be independent of pressure. The splash ratio (Xu et al. in Phys Rev Lett 94:184505, 2005) showed a non-constant behavior, and a power-law model was demonstrated to predict the increase in splash ratio with decreasing impact speed in the low impact speed regime. Also, drop shape was found to affect splash promotion or suppression for an asymmetry greater than 7–8% of the equivalent drop diameter. The observations of the current work could be especially useful for the study of formation of deposits and wall combustion in engine cylinders.     

The derivation of thermal relaxation time between two-phase bubbly flow

Thermal relaxation time constant is derived analytically for the relaxed model with unequal phase-temperatures of a vapour bubble at saturation temperature and a non-steady temperature field around the growing vapour bubble. The energy and state equation are solved between two finite boundary conditions. Thermal relaxation time perform a good agreement with Mohammadein (in Doctoral thesis, PAN, Gdansk, 1994) and Moby Dick experiment in terms of non-equilibrium homogeneous model (Bilicki et al. in Proc R Soc Lond A428:379–397, 1990) for lower values of initial void fraction. Thermal relaxation is affected by Jacob number, superheating, initial bubble radius and thermal diffusivity.     

Level set method for numerical simulation of a cavitation bubble,its growth,collapse and rebound near a rigid wall

A level set method of non-uniform grids is used to simulate the whole evolution of a cavitation bubble, including its growth, collapse and rebound near a rigid wall. Single-phase Navier–Stokes equation in the liquid region is solved by MAC projection algorithm combined with second-order ENO scheme for the advection terms. The moving interface is captured by the level set function, and the interface velocity is resolved by “one-side” velocity extension from the liquid region to the bubble region, complementing the second-order weighted least squares method across the interface and projection inside bubble. The use of non-uniform grid overcomes the difficulty caused by the large computational domain and very small bubble size. The computation is very stable without suffering from large flow-field gradients, and the results are in good agreements with other studies. The bubble interface kinematics, dynamics and its effect on the wall are highlighted, which shows that the code can effectively capture the “shock wave”-like pressure and velocity at jet impact, toroidal bubble, and complicated pressure structure with peak, plateau and valley in the later stage of bubble oscillating. The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (10272032 and 10672043). The English text was polished by Keren Wang.     

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.     

Rarefaction waves in nonequilibrium-boiling fluid flows

The depressurization of a high-pressure vessel initially filled with water heated to below the saturation point is investigated. After depressurization, the pressure in the vessel drops and the boiling fluid flows out into the atmosphere. The experiments [1–3] showed that, when the first rarefaction wave passes through the fluid and the pressure falls below the saturation point, a two-phase mixture with a small steam volume fraction (below 20%) is formed in the vessel. Intense boiling starts only after the arrival of a rarefaction wave traveling at a speed ∼ 10 m/s called the "boiling shock" in [4]. To explain the specific features of this process we developed a mathematical model which takes the difference in the phase velocities into account. Although in bubbly flows this difference is only ∼ 1 m/s, it is enough to cause bubble fragmentation. The calculation showed that the fragmentation proceeds like a chain reaction, i. e. one fragmentation event creates the conditions for the succeeding events. The avalanche-like bubble number growth leads to sharp boiling intensification and the rapid transition of the non-equilibrium mixture to the equilibrium state. This process occurs in a narrow region, namely, in a slow boiling wave which, in the numerical calculations, looks like a shock. The model developed has made it possible to obtain numerical solutions which agree well with the experimental data, to study the wave structure, and to explain the wave mechanism. Moscow. Translated from Izvestiya Rossiiskoi Akademii Nauk, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 4, pp. 20–33, July–August, 2000. The work received financial support in part from the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project 99-03-32042) and from INTAS (grant OPEN 97-2027).     

自由场空泡溃灭过程能量转化机制研究

综合应用实验与数值模拟方法, 深入讨论了自由场空泡溃灭过程中的能量转化机制. 在实验研究中, 应用纹影法记录了空泡溃灭的演变过程, 提取了空泡在溃灭过程中的半径, 溃灭速度等数据, 结合空泡势能和动能方程, 描述了空泡能量的转化过程. 在开展数值模拟分析时, 运用弱可压缩流体质量守恒方程和动量方程, 建立了三维数值模型用以模拟空泡在自由场中的溃灭过程, 并且由结果中获取了空泡溃灭过程中的压力及速度变化规律, 揭示了空泡在溃灭过程中能量转化机制. 研究结果表明: (1) 自由场空泡在溃灭过程中, 空泡势能与空泡半径具有相同的演化趋势, 空泡动能与势能变化趋势相反; 当空泡达到最大半径处时, 空泡势能最大, 流场动能为零. (2) 溃灭后期在空泡周围会形成高压区域, 该区域的压力梯度与速度梯度较高, 随着空泡收缩, 高压区域面积逐渐减小. (3) 空泡在自由场中发生溃灭时, 空泡势能不断转化为流场动能, 在溃灭时刻可以明显观察到冲击波现象, 空泡的大部分能量会在此时转化为冲击波的波能.      

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.     

The axisymmetric vibrations of a cylindrical incompressible liquid column with a gas bubble

The axisymmetric vibrations of an ideal incompressible liquid column in a rigid circular cylindrical vessel with a spherical gas bubble pulsating near the position of dynamic equilibrium are considered. The boundary-value problem for the liquid velocity potential and the equations for the vibrations of the gas bubble are solved under the conditions on the free surface, sidewall, and the boundary of the gas body. For the case of small amplitudes, the resonance frequencies of the system are determined, and the pressure field in the liquid column is constructed. The results are compared with data known for the gas-accumulation model, data obtained without allowance for the boundedness of the liquid, and experimental data. National Technical University (KPI), Kiev, Ukraine. Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika, Vol. 36, No. 7, pp. 74–80, July, 2000.