Control of the dynamics of a boiling vapour bubble using pressure-modulated high intensity focused ultrasound without the shock scattering effect: A first proof-of-concept study

Boiling histotripsy is a promising High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technique that can be used to induce mechanical tissue fractionation at the HIFU focus via cavitation. Two different types of cavitation produced during boiling histotripsy exposure can contribute towards mechanical tissue destruction: (1) a boiling vapour bubble at the HIFU focus and (2) cavitation clouds in between the boiling bubble and the HIFU source. Control of the extent and degree of mechanical damage produced by boiling histotripsy is necessary when treating a solid tumour adjacent to normal tissue or major blood vessels. This is, however, difficult to achieve with boiling histotripsy due to the stochastic formation of the shock scattering-induced inertial cavitation clouds. In the present study, a new histotripsy method termed pressure-modulated shockwave histotripsy is proposed as an alternative to or in addition to boiling histotripsy without inducing the shock scattering effect. The proposed concept is (a) to generate a boiling vapour bubble via localised shockwave heating and (b) subsequently control its extent and lifetime through manipulating peak pressure magnitudes and a HIFU pulse length. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method, bubble dynamics induced at the HIFU focus in an optically transparent liver tissue phantom were investigated using a high speed camera and a passive cavitation detection systems under a single 10, 50 or 100 ms-long 2, 3.5 or 5 MHz pressure-modulated HIFU pulse with varying peak positive and negative pressure amplitudes from 5 to 89 MPa and −3.7 to −14.6 MPa at the focus. Furthermore, a numerical simulation of 2D nonlinear wave propagation with the presence of a boiling bubble at the focus of a HIFU field was conducted by numerically solving the generalised Westervelt equation. The high speed camera experimental results showed that, with the proposed pressure-modulated shockwave histotripsy, boiling bubbles generated by shockwave heating merged together, forming a larger bubble (of the order of a few hundred micron) at the HIFU focus. This coalesced boiling bubble then persisted and maintained within the HIFU focal zone until the end of the exposure (10, 50, or 100 ms). Furthermore, and most importantly, no violent cavitation clouds which typically appear in boiling histotripsy occurred during the proposed histotripsy excitation (i.e. no shock scattering effect). This was likely because that the peak negative pressure magnitude of the backscattered acoustic field by the boiling bubble was below the cavitation cloud intrinsic threshold. The size of the coalesced boiling bubble gradually increased with the peak pressure magnitudes. In addition, with the proposed method, an oval shaped lesion with a length of 0.6 mm and a width of 0.1 mm appeared at the HIFU focus in the tissue phantom, whereas a larger lesion in the form of a tadpole (length: 2.7 mm, width: 0.3 mm) was produced by boiling histotripsy. Taken together, these results suggest that the proposed pressure-modulated shockwave histotripsy could potentially be used to induce a more spatially localised tissue destruction with a desired degree of mechanical damage through controlling the size and lifetime of a boiling bubble without the shock scattering effect.     

Laser plasma shockwave cleaning of SiO2 particles on gold film

A Nd:YAG laser (1064 nm) induces optical breakdown of the airborne above the gold-coated K9 glass surface and the created shockwave removes the SiO₂ particles contaminated on the gold films. The laser cleaning efficiency has been characterized by optical microscopy, dark field imaging, ultraviolet-visible-near infrared spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and the Image-pro software. The relationships between removal ratio and particle position and laser gap distance have been studied in the case of single pulse laser cleaning. The results show that the 1064 nm laser induced plasma shockwave can effectively remove the SiO₂ particles. The removal ratio can reach above 90%. The effects of particle position and laser gap distance on the cleaning efficiency are simulated for the single pulse laser cleaning. The simulated results are consistent with the experimental ones.     

冲击波反射压测量曲线的动态修正与补偿方法

为准确获取爆炸冲击波反射压测量曲线,分析了影响其峰值的三个因素：测压系统的带宽、压力测量方式和信号传输线长度;使用激波管对冲击波测压系统进行动态校准,获取其动态特性;采用改进的levy法对其动态特性进行参数化建模,设计巴特沃斯滤波器作为补偿后的系统,计算出动态补偿环节,拓宽了测压系统的工作频带,且降低了测压系统谐振频率处的幅值;对冲击波反射压测量曲线进行动态修正与补偿,发现该方法能够修正冲击波反射超压峰值,明显降低由于测压系统的动态特性不够带来的峰值误差。该研究成果能够显著提高冲击波反射压测量峰值的准确度,为武器毁伤威力评价提供技术支持。

     

实验室天体物理研究进展

近年来,随着高功率激光实验装置的广泛应用,成像技术和模拟分析技术水平的进一步提高,实验室天体物理研究取得了一些新的重要进展,如激光等离子体实验中对流等离子体磁场结构,冲击波中磁场的湍流放大效应,实验室模拟原恒星喷流中磁场的准直效应和太阳风与偶极磁场之间相互作用等方面的研究。这些研究加深了人们对原恒星以及Herbig—Haro天体喷流、超新星遗迹冲击波、地球磁层中磁场活动等天体物理现象的理解。文章对上述几个方向进行了介绍,并对未来研究方向做一些展望。     

小当量水中爆炸冲击波实验及数值模拟

在小当量(≤10g TNT)爆炸水箱装置中分别进行了0.125g、1.00g、3.37g、8.00g TNT当量PETN球形炸药水中爆炸实验.采用PCB压电型传感器测量水中爆炸冲击波压力脉冲,将实验数据拟合所得公式与文献的经验方程相比较,两者具有较好符合.另外,在小于20%的相对误差范围内,采用AUTODYN一维模拟计算能够预测和验证实验结果.因此,通过小当量水中爆炸实验获得的经验公式可推广到大当量水中爆炸实验.这样既能克服大当量水中爆炸实验耗费大、危险性高等困难,也能够较精确地预估峰值压力.     

Simulation of shockwave propagation with a thermal lattice Boltzmann model

A two‐dimensional 19‐velocity (D2Q19) lattice Boltzmann model which satisfies the conservation laws governing the macroscopic and microscopic mass, momentum and energy with local equilibrium distribution order O(u⁴) rather than the usual O(u³) has been developed. This model is applied to simulate the reflection of shockwaves on the surface of a triangular obstacle. Good qualitative agreement between the numerical predictions and experimental measurements is obtained. As the model contains the higher‐order terms in the local equilibrium distribution, it performs much better in terms of numerical accuracy and stability than the earlier 13‐velocity models with the local equilibrium distribution accurate only up to the second order in the velocity u. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

用光学记录速度干涉仪测量自由面速度

建立了一套光学记录速度干涉仪系统(ORVIS),用于测量强激光产生的冲击波状态方程中的自由面速度。该光学记录速度干涉仪系统的时间分辨率为179 ps,可以测量自由面速度随时间变化的整个过程。在天光KrF高功率准分子激光装置上进行激光打靶实验,激光波长248.4 nm,脉冲宽度25 ns,最大输出能量158 J。在激光功率密度为6.24×1011W·cm-2的条件下,测得厚20 μm铁膜的自由面速度可达3.86 km/s;在激光功率密度为7.28×1011W·cm-2条件下,100 μm铝膜（靶前有100 μm的CH膜作为烧蚀层）的自由面速度可以达到2.87 km/s。     

Shockwave and spallation in silver and other materials by sub-ns laser pulse at 1016 W/cm2 intensity

The laser spallation effect due to intense shockwaves caused by a brief and intense laser pulse irradiating a target surface, 2 mm thick, has been investigated for silver and other materials. For 300 ps IR laser pulse, at intensities of the order of 10¹⁶ W/cm², the shockwave may produce deformations of the back-face in ductile materials, such as Ag, Cu and Al. In heavy materials with high tensile strength, such as Ta, the shockwave produces cracks in the bottom of the laser crater but not deformation in the back-face, while in brittle materials, such as monocrystalline Ge, it produces only superficial cracks and flaking, but not deformation and spallation of the back-face. In thick polymeric materials, such as high-density polyethylene, the ablated crater shape is well defined and the shockwave is strongly damped, and no deformation has been observed in the back-face. The laser ablation yield and the ion acceleration in the backward direction have been measured by mass lost and time-of-flight measurements. SEM microscopy of the different irradiated targets, showing details of the crater size, edges, flaking and deformation in the back-face, useful for a discussion on the shockwave propagation and shock pressure calculation, is presented.     

液电脉冲激波特性分析

基于相应的数学模型来表征液电脉冲激波的产生和传播过程,搭建了液电式碎岩综合试验平台,分析了典型的激波特性的仿真和实测结果。给出了不同充电电压下液电脉冲激波特性的仿真结果,并分析了充电电压对激波特性的影响。结果表明：充电电压为11 kV时,激波的压力峰值为2.67 MPa,激波能量为27.30 J,波前时间为2.16 μs,激波加载速率为1.24 MPa/μs,电能转化为激波能量的效率为13.35%;提高电容充电电压,激波压力峰值和激波能量增大,波前时间减少,激波加载速率增加,但电能转化为激波能量的效率降低。利用建模分析的方法,可以根据放电回路参数预测液电脉冲激波特性,从而为进一步研究激波破碎岩石的形态和效果提供理论依据。

     

各种炸药的殉爆安全距离

为了保证炸药生产与贮存中的安全，我们对各种单质散装炸药进行了一系列殉爆试验，主发装药的药量为１～１０￣５ｋｇ、被发装药为１～５０ｋｇ。通过试验求出了殉爆的最小超压和不殉爆的最大超压、平均殉爆时间，以及温度、冲击、装药密度、建筑物、土围对殉爆的影响，从而确定出各种炸药的殉爆安全距离。