Cavitation caused by an elastic membrane deforming under the jetting of a spark-induced bubble

Abstract

The collapse of a spark-induced bubble results in a high-speed jet, and when that jet impacts an elastic membrane, the latter deforms considerably and is accompanied by secondary cavitation. The cavitation bubble then moves away from the membrane with subsequent oscillation. To study the mechanism for this cavitation, experiments involving diffuse light and particle image velocimetry were conducted to capture the behaviors of the cavitation bubble and flow field resulting from the rapid deformation of the membrane. Analyzing the velocity and pressure fields reveals secondary cavitation induced by a sudden acceleration rather than a large velocity. Secondary cavitation occurs when the dimensionless inertial force overcomes the dimensionless pressure difference required for cavitation; subjecting these dimensionless quantities to a parametric study shows that the secondary cavitation occurs when the former is greater than the latter. During the collapse of the cavitation bubble, a thin jet points toward the membrane with an impact velocity of approximately 35 m/s. The subsequent oscillation of the cavitation bubble results in vortex flow moving away from the membrane. These findings provide insights into engineering applications such as bioengineering and mixing.