Collective oscillations of fresh and salt water bubble plumes

Abstract

Bubble plumes of various void fractions and sizes were produced by varying the flow velocity of a water jet impinging normally on a water surface. The bubbles entrained at the surface were carried downwards by the fluid flow to depths ranging from 33 to 65 cm, and formed roughly cylindrical plumes with diameters ranging from 12 to 27 cm. The acoustic emissions from the plumes were recorded onto digital audio tape using a hydrophone placed outside the cloud at distances ranging from 50 cm to 16.0 m. Closeup video images of the individual bubbles within the plume were also taken in order to gain knowledge of the bubble size distributions. The experiments were performed in both fresh-water and salt-water environments. The fresh-water clouds emitted sounds with a modal structure that was significantly different from that produced by the salt-water clouds. Furthermore, the smaller bubbles present in the salt-water clouds have a fundamental effect on the amplification of turbulence noise, generating sound at significant levels for frequencies up to several hundred Hertz.