A. M. Zhang

Small-charge underwater explosion bubble experiments under various boundary conditions

Small-charge underwater explosion experiments were performed to investigate bubbles subjected to gravity and various boundary conditions, including single boundary (free surface and rigid wall boundary), combined boundaries of free surface and solid wall, solid wall boundaries with a circular opening, and resilient wall boundaries. With high speed camera and pressure sensors, the behavior of explosion bubbles was studied and features of associated pressure pulses were analyzed. Detailed image analysis on the final stages of bubble collapse was carried out and revealed a possible explanation for the weakening of pressure waves at bubble rebound as the bubble approaches a wall boundary. Certain features also indicate that the magnitude of the pressure peaks induced by bubble rebound is related to the shape of the bubble shape during collapse. Pressure pulses arising from the two types of bubble behavior, specifically the collision of an annular jet and the impact of a jet with the wall boundary, were measur...

The motion of a 3D toroidal bubble and its interaction with a free surface near an inclined boundary

The numerical modelling of 3D toroidal bubble dynamics is a challenging problem due to the complex topological transition of the flow domain, and physical and numerical instabilities, associated with jet penetration through the bubble. In this paper, this phenomenon is modelled using the boundary integral method (BIM) coupled with a vortex ring model. We implement a new impact model consisting of the refined local mesh near the impact location immediately before and after impact, and a surgical cut at a high resolution forming a smooth hole for the transition from a singly connected to doubly connected form. This enables a smooth transition from a singly connected bubble to a toroidal bubble. The potential due to a vortex ring is reduced to the line integral along the vortex ring. A new mesh density control technique is described to update the bubble and free surfaces, which provides a high mesh quality of the surfaces with the mesh density in terms of the curvature distribution of the surface. The pressu...

Modelling for three dimensional coalescence of two bubbles

This paper is concerned with the three dimensional (3D) interaction and coalescence of two bubbles subject to buoyancy and the dynamics of the subsequent joined bubble using the boundary integral method (BIM). An improved density potential method is implemented to control the mesh quality. It helps to avoid the numerical instabilities, which occur after coalescence. Numerical convergence tests are conducted in terms of mesh sizes and time steps. The 3D numerical model agrees well with an axisymmetric BIM model for axisymmetric cases as well as experimental results captured by high-speed camera. The bubble jetting, interaction, and coalescence of the two bubbles depend on the maximum bubble radii, the centre distance between two bubbles at inception, and the angle β between the centre line and the direction of buoyancy. We investigate coalescence of two bubbles for β = 0, π/4, and π/2, respectively, and at various centre distances at inception. Numerical results presented include the bubble and jet shapes,...

Numerical analysis of the jet stage of bubble near a solid wall using a front tracking method

The dynamics of a toroidal bubble near a solid wall for a large part of stand-off parameters γ (γ=d/Rmax, d is the distance between the solid wall and the bubble centre at the moment of formation and Rmax is the maximum bubble radius) have been extensively studied, but some mechanics of a toroidal bubble are not completely clear, especially for the small stand-off parameters γ ≤ 0.8. In the present study, on the basis of the finite volume method, the Navier-Stokes equations with inviscid and incompressible assumption are directly solved using a staggered grid on the fixed grid. The dynamics of the toroidal bubble near the solid for different stand-off parameters (γ = 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 0.97, respectively) are simulated by a front tracking method. Initial conditions of numerical simulation are estimated through the Rayleigh–Plesset equation, based on the maximum size and collapse time of a spark-generated bubble. One of the numerical results is compared with a spark-generated bubble experiment, showing tha...

Study on coupled dynamics of ship and flooding water based on experimental and SPH methods

The present paper studies the fluid dynamics during the flooding of a damaged ship numerically and experimentally. Attention is focused on the fluid flow characteristics and the fluid-structure interactions. The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method with an improved boundary treatment is established, which is able to capture the flow behaviors effectively. Fairly good agreement is obtained between the computational and experimental results. Based on the SPH method, the simulations are carried out for the flooding of a damaged ship with different opening sizes, opening positions, and numbers of the flooding cabins. Besides, the effects of the wave are also taken into account. The fluid behaviors are described and analyzed in detail. It is found that, during the first phase of flooding, an inflow jet with a large velocity is formed, significantly influencing the inner flows and the ship responses. During the progressive flooding phase, sloshing, crushing of the free surface, wave breaking, and vortex shedding are observed which are coupled with the ship motions. In addition, some relevant conclusions are enclosed for the motion laws of the damaged ship. This work provides physical insight into the flooding of the damaged ship, which is helpful to understand the coupled dynamics of the ship and flooding water.The present paper studies the fluid dynamics during the flooding of a damaged ship numerically and experimentally. Attention is focused on the fluid flow characteristics and the fluid-structure interactions. The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method with an improved boundary treatment is established, which is able to capture the flow behaviors effectively. Fairly good agreement is obtained between the computational and experimental results. Based on the SPH method, the simulations are carried out for the flooding of a damaged ship with different opening sizes, opening positions, and numbers of the flooding cabins. Besides, the effects of the wave are also taken into account. The fluid behaviors are described and analyzed in detail. It is found that, during the first phase of flooding, an inflow jet with a large velocity is formed, significantly influencing the inner flows and the ship responses. During the progressive flooding phase, sloshing, crushing of the free surface, wave breaking, and vortex...

Study on the interactions between two identical oscillation bubbles and a free surface in a tank

A boundary element method based on the incompressible potential flow theory is adopted to investigate the interaction between two identical oscillating bubbles and a free surface in a tank. An axisymmetric numerical model is established, and certain numerical techniques are proposed to address coefficient matrix singularity and fluid-structure intersection. Experiments with spark-generated bubbles in a cylindrical tank recorded by a high-speed camera are conducted, and the numerical results are validated. On this basis, a typical case of bubbles interacting with a free surface in a tank with relatively small inter-bubble and bubble-free surface distances is carefully studied. A crown-shaped water column at the free surface is observed both numerically and experimentally. The maximum volume of the lower bubble is found to be much larger than that of the upper one. The effects of the inter-bubble and bubble-wall distances on bubble dynamics and free surface motion are analyzed. The results can provide a use...

Experimental and numerical study on bubble-sphere interaction near a rigid wall

This study is concerned with the interaction between a violently oscillating bubble and a movable sphere with comparable size near a rigid wall, which is an essential physical phenomenon in many applications such as cavitation, underwater explosion, ultrasonic cleaning, and biomedical treatment. Experiments are performed in a cubic water tank, and the underwater electric discharge technique (580 V DC) is employed to generate a bubble that is initiated between a rigid wall and a sphere in an axisymmetric configuration. The bubble-sphere interactions are captured using a high-speed camera operating at 52 000 frames/s. A classification of the bubble-sphere interaction is proposed, i.e., “weak,” “intermediate,” and “strong” interactions, identified with three distinct bubble shapes at the maximum volume moment. In the numerical simulations, the boundary integral method and the auxiliary function method are combined to establish a full coupling model that decouples the mutual dependence between the force and t...

Damage Characteristics of Coated Cylindrical Shells Subjected to Underwater Contact Explosion

It is of great significance for the protective design of submarine to study the influences of coverings on the damage characteristics of single and double cylindrical shells subjected to underwater contact explosions. The SPH models of single and double cylindrical shells coated with foam silicone rubber are established to analyze shockwave propagation, damage characteristics, and elastoplastic responses, which provides reasonable parameters of covering position and thickness. The results can be concluded as follows: the superposition of multiple waves may cause the inhomogeneity and discontinuity; for the single cylindrical shell with inner or outer coverings, the damage mode is mainly tensile and shear failure is caused by detonation waves and detonation products; compared with out-covering approach, the in-covering approach has better antishock performance; the best protective effect comes out when the thickness of covering is close to that of the shell; as for the double cylindrical shell without interlayer water, the destruction of inner shell mainly results from the puncture of high-speed fragments from the outer shell, so for the outer shell, out-covering is a better choice; however, since the interlayer water is very effective in protecting the inner shell, in-covering will be better for the inner shell.

Dynamic characteristics of large scale spark bubbles close to different boundaries

Experiments on the pulsation of the high-voltage electrical-spark bubbles near different boundaries are conducted by means of high-speed photography. Some intriguing details are observed clearly, such as the formation of the jet (especially the contact jet formed when a bubble is quite close to the rigid boundary) and bubble splitting. The variation of the maximum radius of the bubble, bubble period, jet tip velocity, and bubble center migration is investigated with the presence of different boundaries. In the study of the bubble period, two fitting curves are obtained from the data by the author and previous references; one is for the bubble generated beneath the free surface and the other is for the bubble generated above the rigid boundary. In the study of the maximum jet tip velocity, a possible trend line is proposed to describe the variation of the jet tip velocity with γb (the non-dimensional standoff distance from the bubble center to the rigid boundary). Finally, the critical value of γb is studi...

Acoustic bubble dynamics in a microvessel surrounded by elastic material

This paper is concerned with microbubble dynamics in a blood vessel surrounded by elastic tissue subject to ultrasound, which are associated with important applications in medical ultrasonics. Both the blood flow inside the vessel and the tissue flow external to the vessel are modeled using the potential flow theory coupled with the boundary element method. The elasticity of tissue is modeled through the inclusion of a pressure term in the dynamic boundary condition at the interface between the two fluids. Weakly viscous effects are considered using viscous potential flow theory. The numerical model is validated by comparison with the theoretical results of the Rayleigh-Plesset equation for spherical bubbles, the numerical results for acoustic bubbles in an unbounded flow, and the experimental images for a spark generated bubble in a rigid circular cylinder. Numerical analyses are then performed for the bubble oscillation, jet formation and penetration through the bubble, and the deformation of the vessel...