Effect of surface tension on a liquid-jet produced by the collapse of a laser-induced bubble against a rigid boundary

The effect of surface tension on the behavior of a liquid-jet is investigated experimentally by means of a fiber-coupled optical beam deflection (OBD) technique. It is found that a target under water is impacted in turn by a laser-plasma ablation force and by a high-speed liquid-jet impulse induced by bubble collapse in the vicinity of a rigid boundary. The liquid-jet impact is found to be the main damage mechanism in cavitation erosion. Furthermore, the liquid-jet increases monotonously with surface tension, so cavitation erosion rises sharply with increasing surface tension. Surface tension also reduces bubble collapse duration. From the experimental results and the modified Rayleigh theory, the maximum bubble radius is obtained and it is found to reduce with increasing surface tension.