GROWTH AND COLLAPSE OF CAVITATION BUBBLES. (DISTRIBUTION CHANGE OF CAVITATION NUCLEI DUE TO THE COLLAPSE OF CAVITATION BUBBLES).

The growth and collapse of cavitation bubbles are observed in distilled water using a hydro shock tube which alternately generates low pressure and high pressure in the test section. The cavitation bubbles are fragmentized into numerous small bubbles (so called nuclei) after their collapse. The number of remaining nuclei increases rapidly as the gas content increases in the water. The nuclei population varies in the water during the growth and collapse of cavitation bubbles, and finally it becomes comparable with the one measured in some cavitation tunnels. The cluster of cavitation bubbles, grown from the remaining nuclei, behaves like a single bubble in the initial stage, but at the middle stage it separates into small bubbles, and they collapse faster.