Effect of drainage on antibubble collapse

Abstract

Antibubbles are a special spherical structure generated in liquids surrounded by a thin air film. The collapse of antibubbles has been regarded as a feasible method for generating microbubbles. This paper demonstrates an experimental study on the antibubble collapse focusing on the effect of rupture time and location. With the help of a high-speed camera, the detailed collapse dynamics for different rupture times and locations was presented. The collapse velocity was found to vary significantly with the rupture time and location. An upgraded theoretical model was proposed to elucidate the effect of the air film thickness distribution due to drainage on the collapse velocity. This study should stimulate further investigation on the antibubble collapse, especially the size distribution of the generated microbubbles.