Investigations of dynamics of a single spark-induced bubble in saline water

Abstract

We investigated the behavior of single bubbles generated by spark discharge under different electric fields and water properties. A higher discharge energy is known to generate a larger bubble. However, our results show that the hydraulic efficiency decreases with increasing charging voltage, but increases with increasing charging capacitance. We found that the water conductivity has little influence on the bubble behavior, whereas a higher water temperature generates a larger bubble with higher hydraulic efficiency. The experimental results agreed well with those of the Rayleigh–Plesset model. Overall, the hydraulic efficiency for spark-induced bubble ranges from 3.5% to 7.5%. This work helps to advance our understanding of spark-induced bubble dynamics and their applications.