Impact-driven cavitation bubble dynamics

Abstract

The dynamics of a single cavitation bubble exposed to a transient acceleration is studied experimentally. A single cavitation bubble is seeded with a pulsed laser in a free-falling and impacting water-filled test tube. After impact, a pressure wave containing compression and rarefaction phases is generated and interacts with the bubble. The bubble dynamics is studied with high-speed imaging and compared to numerical simulations using the Keller–Miksis model. The timing of bubble seeding with respect to the pressure wave is varied, and a regime of enhanced collapse strength is found.