Numerical and Experimental Study of Bubble Dynamics in Contact with a Solid Surface

Abstract

A complex numerical and experimental method is proposed for studying 3D dynamics of a bubble contacting with a surface in the presence of an acoustic field. The numerical approach is based on the boundary element method for potential flows, which is most efficient for solving the problems in a 3D formulation. The use of heterogeneous computer architectures consisting of central graphic processors and becoming more and more popular makes it possible to increase the scale of the problem and sufficiently reduce the calculation time. The mesh destabilization problems are solved using a spherical filter. To describe the contact line dynamics, a semi-empirical law of motion is used. The experimental method is based on high-speed recording and optical microscopy. An air bubble contacts with the inner surface of an experimental cell made from acrylic glass and filled with distilled water. The acoustic field in the cell generated by a disk-shaped acoustic radiator is measured using a hydrophone. The behavior of the bubble contacting with a hydrophillic surface is considered for the cases of a fixed or moving contact line. The shape and volume oscillations of the bubble are investigated. The results of numerical simulations agree qualitatively with the experimental data.