Numerical Study on Mass Transfer Effects on Spherical Cavitation Bubble Collapse in an Acoustic Field

A numerical code to simulate mass transfer effects on spherical cavitation bubble collapse in an acoustic pressure domain in quiescent water has been developed. Gilmore equation is used to simulate bubble dynamics, with considering mass diffusion and heat transfer. Bubbles with different initial radii were considered in quiescent infinite water in interaction with sinusoidal shock waves with different magnitudes of amplitude and frequency. Simulations were done in two cases; with and without considering mass transfer. Good agreement with reference data was achieved. For bubbles with small radii in high frequency pressure field with low amplitude, mass transfer causes larger maximum radii and growth time, and more violent resultant collapse. Decreasing pressure frequency or increasing its amplitude causes larger maximum radii, longer collapse time, and more violent collapse. But, in cases with mass transfer because at the last moments of collapse stage a large amount of water vapor is trapped inside the bubble, the collapse will become less violent. For larger bubbles collapse becomes more violent for the cases without mass transfer in all pressure amplitudes and higher frequencies. But decreasing pressure frequency makes the collapse of the bubbles with mass transfer more violent. However, mass transfer effects decreases with increasing initial bubble radius.Copyright © 2010 by ASME