Diffuse interface modeling of a radial vapor bubble collapse

Abstract

A diffuse interface model is exploited to study in details the dynamics of a cavitation vapor bubble, by including phase change, transition to supercritical conditions, shock wave propagation and thermal conduction. The numerical experiments show that the actual dynamic is a sequence of collapses and rebounds demonstrating the importance of nonequilibrium phase changes. In particular the transition to supercritical conditions avoids the full condensation and leads to shockwave emission after the collapse and to successive bubble rebound.