Numerical Simulation of Spherical, Cylindrical and Axial Bubble Clouds Collapse

The nonlinear dynamics of a spherical, cylindrical and axial cloud of cavitation bubbles were numerically simulated in order to learn more about the physical phenomena occurring in the cloud cavitation. The simulations employed the fully nonlinear continuum mixture equations coupled with the Gilmore equation for the dynamics of bubbles by considering the compressibility of liquid. A set of the Navier-Stokes equations was solved for the gas inside a spherical bubble, considering heat transfer through the gas inside the bubble and the liquid layer. The flow field around the cylindrical and axial cloud was obtained by solving the Navier-Stokes equations using a finite volume method and a dynamic layering mesh scheme. The calculated strength of shock wave in the liquid around the cloud was of the order of 1×106 Pa and the propagation of this shock wave lasted for 10 μs. The conducted investigations illustrate that the shock wave propagates before the cloud has completely collapsed. A good agreement with experimental data was observed.