Laser-induced cavitation bubble dynamics at different distances from a rigid boundary is investigated using high-speed synchrotron x-ray phase-contrast imaging. This is achieved through the design of a tailored experimental chamber specifically designed to reduce the x-ray absorption along the path length in water while mitigating boundary effects. The highly resolved undistorted radiographs are able to visualize a sharp bubble interface even upon complex shapes, which can serve as high-quality benchmarks for numerical simulations. Here, the measured bubble shapes are compared to simulations using the incompressible boundary integral method. The direct optical access to the high-speed liquid jet provides accurate measurements of the evolution of the jet speed, which is contrasted to the simulated results. After the jet has impacted the opposite side of the cavitation bubble, the cavity assumes a toroidal shape, the volume of which can be accurately measured from the radiographs and its temporal evolution compared to the bubble-ring model. Thanks to the clear optical access to the cavity lobes throughout the collapse, non-axisymmetric splashing within the bubble resulting from the jet impact, also known as Blake's splashing, is observed and characterized for stand-off parameters of γ<1. Measurements extracted from the highly resolved visualizations provided herein have been validated against scaling laws for droplet impact on a thin liquid film, which contribute to confirm and elucidate the splashing phenomenon.

Upon interaction with underwater shock waves, bubbles can collapse and produce high-speed liquid jets in the direction of the wave propagation. This work experimentally investigates the impact of laser-induced underwater impulsive shock waves, i.e. shock waves with a short, finite width, of variable peak pressure on bubbles of radii in the range 10–500 $\mathrm {\mu }$ m. The high-speed visualisations provide new benchmarking of remarkable quality for the validation of numerical simulations and the derivation of scaling laws. The experimental results support scaling laws describing the collapse time and the jet speed of bubbles driven by impulsive shock waves as a function of the impulse provided by the wave. In particular, the collapse time and the jet speed are found to be, respectively, inversely and directly proportional to the time integral of the pressure waveform for bubbles with a collapse time longer than the duration of shock interaction and for shock amplitudes sufficient to trigger a nonlinear bubble collapse. These results provide a criterion for the shock parameters that delimits the jetting and non-jetting behaviour for bubbles having a shock width-to-bubble size ratio smaller than one. Jetting is, however, never observed below a peak pressure value of 14 MPa. This limit, where the pressure becomes insufficient to yield a nonlinear bubble collapse, is likely the result of the time scale of the shock wave passage over the bubble becoming very short with respect to the bubble collapse time scale, resulting in the bubble effectively feeling the shock wave as a spatially uniform change in pressure, and in an (almost) spherical bubble collapse.

Investigations of shock-induced cavitation within a droplet are highly challenged by the multiphase nature of the mechanisms involved. Within the context of heterogeneous nucleation, we introduce a thermodynamically well-posed multiphase numerical model accounting for phase compression and expansion, which relies on a finite pressure-relaxation rate formulation. We simulate (i) the spherical collapse of a bubble in a free field, (ii) the interaction of a cylindrical water droplet with a planar shock wave, and (iii) the high-speed impact of a gelatin droplet onto a solid surface. The determination of the finite pressure-relaxation rate is done by comparing the numerical results with the Keller–Miksis model, and the corresponding experiments of Sembian et al. and Field et al., respectively. For the latter two, the pressure-relaxation rate is found to be $\mu =3.5$ and $\mu =0.5$ , respectively. Upon the validation of the determined pressure-relaxation rate, we run parametric simulations to elucidate the critical Mach number from which cavitation is likely to occur. Complementing simulations with a geometrical acoustic model, we provide a phenomenological description of the shock-induced cavitation within a droplet, as well as a discussion on the bubble-cloud growth effect on the droplet flow field. The usual prediction of the bubble cloud center, given in the literature, is eventually modified to account for the expansion wave magnitude.

The objective of this study is to develop a basic understanding of the interaction of shock waves with density inhomogeneities. We consider the particular instance of a planar air shock impinging on a spherical water droplet and discuss to what extent this interaction can lead to the inception of cavitation inside the droplet. The effort centers on early phases of the interaction, which are analyzed using both ray theory and a hydrodynamic code. Within the context of ray theory, the occurrence of focusing is examined in detail, and parametric equations are derived for the transmitted wavefront and its multiple internal reflections. It is found that wave patterns predicted by ray calculations compare extremely well with the more accurate numerical solutions from simulations. In particular, it is shown that the internal wavefront assumes a complex time-dependent shape whose dominant feature is the existence of cusp singularities. These singular points are shown to trace out surfaces that are the caustics of the associated system of rays. From the singularities of the energy flux density of the refracted wave, the parametric equations of the caustic surface associated with the kth reflected wavefront are deduced. As a consequence of the focusing process, simulations show the formation of negative-pressure regions in the internal flow field. These low-pressure zones are identified as possible spots at which cavitation may occur, depending on the magnitude of pressure reached. Finally, numerical results provide quantitative information on the dependence of negative-pressure peaks upon incident-shock-wave strength.

High-power ultrasonic horns operating at low frequency are known to generate a cone-shaped cavitation bubble cloud beneath them. The exact physical processes resulting in the conical structure are still unclear mainly due to challenges associated with their visualization. Herein, we address the onset of the cavitation cloud by exploiting high-speed X-ray phase contrast imaging. It reveals that the cone formation is not immediate but results from a three-step phenomenology: (i) inception and oscillation of single bubbles, (ii) individual cloud formation under splitting or lens effects, and (iii) cloud merging leading to the formation of a bubble layer and, eventually, to the cone structure due to the radial pressure gradient on the horn tip.

Assessment of geometry effects affecting shock-induced cavitation within a droplet is investigated for the first time. To do this, we use a thermodynamically well-posed multiphase numerical model accounting for phase compression and expansion, which relies on a finite pressure-relaxation rate formulation and which allow for heterogeneous nucleation. These geometry effects include the shape of the transmitted wave front, which is related to the shock speed to droplet sound speed ratio and the droplet geometry (cylindrical vs spherical). Phenomenological differences between the column and the droplet configurations are presented. In addition, the critical Mach number for cavitation appearance is determined for both cases: between M = 1.8 and M = 2 for the column, and between M = 2 and M = 2.2 for the droplet. Based on the transmitted wavefront geometry, with Mach number varying from 1.6 to 6, two cavitation regimes have been identified, and the transition has been characterized: an exponentially (M < 4.38) and a linearly (M > 4.38) increasing bubble-cloud volume. On more applied aspects, we also investigate the influence of the bubble cloud on the interface disruption and compare the results against the pure liquid droplet test case. A parallel with the technique of effervescent atomization is eventually presented.