Jet formation from bubbles near a solid boundary in a compressible liquid: Numerical study of distance dependence

Abstract

A small, spherical bubble of high internal pressure is inserted into water at constant ambient pressure as a model of a laser-induced bubble. Its subsequent dynamics near a flat solid boundary is studied in dependence on the distance of the bubble to the boundary by numerically solving the Navier-Stokes equations with the help of the open source software environment OpenFOAM. Implemented is the finite volume method for discretization of the equations of motion and the volume of fluid method for capturing the interface between the bubble interior and exterior. The bubble contains a small amount of non-condensable gas that is treated as an ideal gas. The liquid is water obeying the Tait-equation. Surface tension is included where necessary. The evolution of the bubble shape and a selection of pressure and velocity fields are given for normalized distances $D^* = D/R_{\rm max}$ between 0 and 3 ($D$ = initial distance of the bubble centre to the boundary, $R_{\rm max}$ = maximum radius the bubble would attain without any boundary). $R_{\rm max} = 500 \mu$m is chosen for the study. Normal axial jet formation ($\sim 100$ m s$^{-1}$) by axial flow focusing is found for $0.24 \le D^* \le 3$ and the change to a different type of axial jet formation ($\sim 1000$ m s$^{-1}$) by annular-liquid-flow collision for bubbles very near to the solid boundary ($0 \le D^* \le 0.2$). The transition region ($0.2 < D^* < 0.24$) is characterized by additional inbound and outbound annular jets. Remarkably, the inclusion of the viscosity of the water is decisive to get the fast jets.