The modelling and simulation of ice nucleation triggered by acoustic cavitation was addressed in this study. The objective was to evaluate the number of nuclei generated by a single gas bubble and afterwards by a multi-bubble system as function of the acoustic pressure (ultrasound wave amplitude) and supercooling level (liquid temperature). According to our calculations, the nucleation could be initiated with moderated acoustic pressure amplitude (around one bar) even at low supercooling levels (around few degrees). These results may provide a sound basis for the control of ice crystal size and morphology which is a key issue in industrial freezing and freeze-drying processes.

This paper deals with the inertial cavitation of a single gas bubble in a liquid submitted to an ultrasonic wave. The aim was to calculate accurately the pressure and temperature at the bubble wall and in the liquid adjacent to the wall just before and just after the collapse. Two different approaches were proposed for modeling the heat transfer between the ambient liquid and the gas: the simplified approach (A) with liquid acting as perfect heat sink, the rigorous approach (B) with liquid acting as a normal heat conducting medium. The time profiles of the bubble radius, gas temperature, interface temperature and pressure corresponding to the above models were compared and important differences were observed excepted for the bubble size. The exact pressure and temperature distributions in the liquid corresponding to the second model (B) were also presented. These profiles are necessary for the prediction of any physical phenomena occurring around the cavitation bubble, with possible applications to sono-crystallization.