Marc Tinguely

Scaling laws for jets of single cavitation bubbles

Fast liquid jets, called micro-jets, are produced within cavitation bubbles experiencing an aspherical collapse. Here we review micro-jets of different origins, scales and appearances, and propose a unified framework to describe their dynamics by using an anisotropy parameter zeta >= 0, representing a dimensionless measure of the liquid momentum at the collapse point (Kelvin impulse). This parameter is rigorously defined for various jet drivers, including gravity and nearby boundaries. Combining theoretical considerations with hundreds of high-speed visualisations of bubbles collapsing near a rigid surface, near a free surface or in variable gravity, we classify the jets into three distinct regimes: weak, intermediate and strong. Weak jets (zeta 0.1) pierce the bubble early during the collapse. The dynamics of the jets is analysed through key observables, such as the jet impact time, jet speed, bubble displacement, bubble volume at jet impact and vapour-jet volume. We find that, upon normalising these observables to dimensionless jet parameters, they all reduce to straightforward functions of zeta, which we can reproduce numerically using potential flow theory. An interesting consequence of this result is that a measurement of a single observable, such as the bubble displacement, suffices to estimate any other parameter, such as the jet speed. Remarkably, the dimensionless parameters of intermediate and weak jets (zeta < 0.1) depend only on zeta, not on the jet driver (i.e. gravity or boundaries). In the same regime, the jet parameters are found to be well approximated by power laws of zeta, which we explain through analytical arguments.

Confined shocks inside isolated liquid volumes: A new path of erosion?

The unique confinement of shock waves inside isolated liquid volumes amplifies the density of shock-liquid interactions. We investigate this universal principle through an interdisciplinary study of shock-induced cavitation inside liquid volumes, isolated in 2 and 3 dimensions. By combining high-speed visualizations of ideal water drops realized in microgravity with smoothed particle simulations we evidence strong shock-induced cavitation at the focus of the confined shocks. We extend this analysis to ground-observations of jets and drops using an analytic model, and argue that cavitation caused by trapped shocks offers a distinct mechanism of erosion in high-speed impacts (>100 m/s).

Evidence for hydrogen generation in laser- or spark-induced cavitation bubbles

The growing use of focused lasers or electric sparks to generate cavitation bubbles raises concerns about the possible alteration of gas content during the initiation process and its effect on bubble dynamics. We provide experimental evidence that hydrogen molecules are produced for such plasma-induced bubbles. We performed spectral analysis of the light emitted by the plasma and monitored the dissolved hydrogen concentration in water. The mass of dissolved hydrogen was found proportional to the potential energy of the rebound bubble for both laser and spark methods. Nevertheless, hydrogen concentration was found 2.7 times larger with the spark.

Energy partition at the collapse of spherical cavitation bubbles.

Spherically collapsing cavitation bubbles produce a shock wave followed by a rebound bubble. Here we present a systematic investigation of the energy partition between the rebound and the shock. Highly spherical cavitation bubbles are produced in microgravity, which suppresses the buoyant pressure gradient that otherwise deteriorates the sphericity of the bubbles. We measure the radius of the rebound bubble and estimate the shock energy as a function of the initial bubble radius (2-5.6mm) and the liquid pressure (10-80kPa). Those measurements uncover a systematic pressure dependence of the energy partition between rebound and shock. We demonstrate that these observations agree with a physical model relying on a first-order approximation of the liquid compressibility and an adiabatic treatment of the noncondensable gas inside the bubble. Using this model we find that the energy partition between rebound and shock is dictated by a single nondimensional parameter ξ=Δpγ6/[p(g0)1/γ(ρc2)1-1/γ], where Δp=p∞ - pv is the driving pressure, p∞ is the static pressure in the liquid, pv is the vapor pressure, pg0 is the pressure of the noncondensable gas at the maximal bubble radius, γ is the adiabatic index of the noncondensable gas, ρ is the liquid density, and c is the speed of sound in the liquid.

Shock waves from nonspherical cavitation bubbles

We present detailed observations of the shock waves emitted at the collapse of single cavitation bubbles using simultaneous time-resolved shadowgraphy and hydrophone pressure measurements. The geometry of the bubbles is systematically varied from spherical to very nonspherical by decreasing their distance to a free or rigid surface or by modulating the gravity-induced pressure gradient aboard parabolic flights. The nonspherical collapse produces multiple shocks that are clearly associated with different processes, such as the jet impact and the individual collapses of the distinct bubble segments. For bubbles collapsing near a free surface, the energy and timing of each shock are measured separately as a function of the anisotropy parameter zeta, which represents the dimensionless equivalent of the Kelvin impulse. For a given source of bubble deformation (free surface, rigid surface, or gravity), the normalized shock energy depends only on zeta, irrespective of the bubble radius R-0 and driving pressure Delta p. Based on this finding, we develop a predictive framework for the peak pressure and energy of shock waves from nonspherical bubble collapses. Combining statistical analysis of the experimental data with theoretical derivations, we find that the shock peak pressures can be estimated as jet impact-induced hammer pressures, expressed as p(h) = 0.45(rho c(2) Delta p)(1/2) zeta(-1) at zeta > 10(-3). The same approach is found to explain the shock energy decreasing as a function of zeta(-2/3).