Pressure fields produced by single-bubble collapse near a corner

Abstract

Damage from repeated bubble collapse to neighboring rigid objects is a consequence of cavitation. Few studies exist on the dynamics of bubbles collapsing near a corner, i.e., two flat rigid surfaces making a right angle. Here we solve the three-dimensional compressible Navier-Stokes equations for gas and liquid flows to quantify the pressure fields. The second wall affects the collapse by (i) causing the re-entrant jet to no longer point in the direction normal to the closest wall but at an angle toward the corner and (ii) causing the maximum wall pressure to be observed in the corner when the bubble is sufficiently close to equidistant from each boundary due to shock reflections.