Bubble Wall Thickness Research Articles

Vacuum bubble collisions: From microphysics to gravitational waves

We comprehensively study the effects of bubble wall thickness and speed on the gravitational wave emission spectrum of collisions of two vacuum bubbles. We numerically simulate a large dynamical range, making use of symmetry to reduce the dimensionality. The high-frequency slope of the gravitational wave spectrum is shown to depend on the thickness of the bubble wall, becoming steeper for thick-wall bubbles, in agreement with recent fully 3+1 dimensional lattice simulations of many-bubble collisions. This dependence is present, even for highly relativistic bubble wall collisions. We use the reduced dimensionality as an opportunity to investigate dynamical phenomena which may underlie the observed differences in the gravitational wave spectra. These phenomena include `trapping', which occurs most for thin-wall bubbles, and oscillations behind the bubble wall, which occur for thick-wall bubbles.

A hybrid simulation of gravitational wave production in first-order phase transitions

The LISA telescope will provide the first opportunity to probe the scenario of a first-order phase transition happening close to the electroweak scale. In thermal transitions, the main contribution to the GW spectrum comes from the sound waves propagating through the plasma. Current estimates of the GW spectrum are based on numerical simulations of a scalar field interacting with the plasma or on analytical approximations — the so-called sound shell model. In this work we present a novel setup to calculate the GW spectra from sound waves. We use a hybrid method that uses a 1d simulation (with spherical symmetry) to evolve the velocity and enthalpy profiles of a single bubble after collision and embed it in a 3d realization of multiple bubble collisions, assuming linear superposition of the velocity and enthalpy. The main advantage of our method compared to 3d hydrodynamic simulations is that it does not require to resolve the scale of bubble wall thickness. This makes our simulations more economical and the only two relevant physical length scales that enter are the bubble size and the fluid shell thickness (that are in turn enclosed by the box size and the grid spacing). The reduced costs allow for extensive parameter studies and we provide a parametrization of the final GW spectrum as a function of the wall velocity and the fluid kinetic energy.

Bleomycin Polidocanol Foam (BPF) Stability – In Vitro Evidence for the Effectiveness of a Novel Sclerosant for Venous Malformations

This study investigated the invitro stability of a novel sclerosant, bleomycin polidocanol foam (BPF), for venous malformation (VM) sclerotherapy. The study was designed with control groups treated with polidocanol (0.5%, 1%, and 3%) only. Theexperimental groups included 21 BPFs, which was made by dissolving bleomycin at seven differentconcentrations (0.1%-1.5%) in polidocanol (0.5%, 1%, and 3%). The Tessari method was used to prepare sclerosant foam with a liquid:gas ratio of 1:4at room temperature invitro. The foam stability was measured for each group. The decay process, one component of foam stability, was recorded with acamera. Foam decay process experiments were performed 10 times per group. The stability indices included drainage rate, drainage time, half life, and microscopic measurement of the foams (mean bubble diameter, minimum and maximum bubble diameters, wall thickness, and bubble diameter distribution). Compared with the control groups, the half lives of BPFs mainly increased significantly with the addition of bleomycin (p<.001). BPF with 3% polidocanol and 0.1% bleomycin recorded the highest half life (246±1.6sec), and this group also achieved the smallest bubble diameter and wall thickness (69.9μm and 5.80μm) among the experimental groups. For the same polidocanol concentration, the bubble diameter and wall thickness increased when bleomycin was added. Bleomycin concentrations account for different BPF stability. BPF stability mainly increased significantly with the addition of a small amount of bleomycin but this advantage was no longer apparent with increasing bleomycin dose.

A Single-Ended Ultra-Thin Spherical Microbubble Based on the Improved Critical-State Pressure-Assisted Arc Discharge Method

Hollow core microbubble structures are good candidates for the construction of high performance whispering gallery microresonator and Fabry-Perot (FP) interference devices. In the previous reports, most of interest was just focused on the dual-ended microbubble, but not single-ended microbubble, which could be used for tip sensing or other special areas. The thickness, symmetry and uniformity of the single-ended microbubble in previous reports were far from idealization. Thus, a new ultra-thin single-ended spherical microbubble based on the improved critical-state pressure-assisted arc discharge method was proposed and fabricated firstly in this paper, which was fabricated simply by using a commercial fusion splicer. The improvement to former paper was using weak discharge and releasing pressure gradually during the discharging process. Thus, the negative influence of gravity towards bubble deformation was decreased, and the fabricated microbubble structure had a thin, smooth and uniform surface. By changing the arc discharge parameters and the fiber position, the wall thicknesses of the fabricated microbubble could reach the level of 2 μm or less. The fiber Fabry-Perot (FP) interference technique was also used to analyze the deformation characteristic of microbubble under difference filling pressures. Finding the ends of the microbubbles had a trend of elongation with axial compression when the filling pressure was increasing. Its sensitivity to the inner pressure of microbubble samples was about ~556 nm/MPa, the bubble wall thickness was only of about 2 μm. Besides, a high whispering gallery mode (WGM) quality factor that up to 107 was realized by using this microbubble-based resonator. To explain the upper phenomenon, the microbubble was modeled and simulated with the ANSYS software. Results of this study could be useful for developing new single-ended whispering gallery mode micro-cavity structure, pressure sensors, etc.

Bubble wall velocities in the Standard Model and beyond

We present results for the bubble wall velocity and bubble wall thickness during a cosmological first-order phase transition in a condensed form. Our results are for minimal extensions of the Standard Model but in principle are applicable to a much broader class of settings. Our first assumption about the model is that only the electroweak Higgs is obtaining a vacuum expectation value during the phase transition. The second is that most of the friction is produced by electroweak gauge bosons and top quarks. Under these assumptions the bubble wall velocity and thickness can be deduced as a function of two equilibrium properties of the plasma: the strength of the phase transition and the pressure difference along the bubble wall.

Gravitational waves from vacuum first-order phase transitions: From the envelope to the lattice

We conduct large scale numerical simulations of gravitational wave production at a first order vacuum phase transition. We find a power law for the gravitational wave power spectrum at high wavenumber which falls off as $k^{-1.5}$ rather than the $k^{-1}$ produced by the envelope approximation. The peak of the power spectrum is shifted to slightly lower wave numbers from that of the envelope approximation. The envelope approximation reproduces our results for the peak power less well, agreeing only to within an order of magnitude. After the bubbles finish colliding the scalar field oscillates around the true vacuum. An additional feature is produced in the UV of the gravitational wave power spectrum, and this continues to grow linearly until the end of our simulation. The additional feature peaks at a length scale close to the bubble wall thickness and is shown to have a negligible contribution to the energy in gravitational waves, providing the scalar field mass is much smaller than the Planck mass.

Evolution of mass distribution in walls of rigid polyurethane foams

In this work, we describe a theoretical model for the simulation of reactive foaming of polyurethane (PU) consisting of three parts – reaction kinetics, foam expansion and wall evolution, which are coupled together. The advantage of this approach is that it provides comprehensive details about the development of PU foam – from the evolution of temperature and foam density to morphology features like bubble size, wall thickness and strut shape at the same time. The performance of the model is evaluated by analysing the model predictions for realistic process conditions and comparing to experimental data. It is demonstrated that the increased viscosity of the reaction mixture will lead to foams with thicker walls. The presented model can serve as a useful tool for the optimization of PU foaming process.

A Micro Bubble Structure Based Fabry-Perot Optical Fiber Strain Sensor with High Sensitivity and Low-Cost Characteristics.

A high-sensitivity, low-cost, ultrathin, hollow fiber micro bubble structure was proposed; such a bubble can be used to develop a high-sensitivity strain sensor based on a Fabry–Perot interferometer (FPI). The micro bubble is fabricated at the fiber tip by splicing a glass tube to a single mode fiber (SMF) and then the glass tube is filled with gas in order to expand and form a micro bubble. The sensitivity of the strain sensor with a cavity length of about 155 μm and a bubble wall thickness of about 6 μm was measured to be up to 8.14 pm/με.

Precise measurement of micro bubble resonator thickness by internal aerostatic pressure sensing

We develop a new, simple and non-destructive method to precisely measure the thickness of thin wall micro bubble resonators (MBRs) by using internal aerostatic pressure sensing. Measurement error of 1% at a bubble wall thickness of 2 μm is achieved. This method is applicable to both thin wall and thick wall MBR with high measurement accuracy.

Water in volcanic glass: From volcanic degassing to secondary hydration

Volcanic glass is deposited with trace amounts (0.1–0.6wt.%) of undegassed magmatic water dissolved in the glass. After deposition, meteoric water penetrates into the glass structure mostly as molecular H2O. Due to the lower δD (‰) values of non-tropical meteoric waters and the ∼30‰ offset between volcanic glass and environmental water during hydration, secondary water imparts lighter hydrogen isotopic values during secondary hydration up to a saturation concentration of 3–4wt.% H2O. We analyzed compositionally and globally diverse volcanic glass from 0 to 10ka for their δD and H2Ot across different climatic zones, and thus different δD of precipitation, on a thermal conversion elemental analyzer (TCEA) furnace attached to a mass spectrometer. We find that tephrachronologically coeval rhyolite glass is hydrated faster than basaltic glass, and in the majority of glasses an increase in age and total water content leads to a decrease in δD (‰), while a few equatorial glasses have little change in δD (‰). We compute a magmatic water correction based on our non-hydrated glasses, and calculate an average 103lnαglass-water for our hydrated felsic glasses of −33‰, which is similar to the 103lnαglass-water determined by Friedman et al. (1993a) of −34‰. We also determine a smaller average 103lnαglass-water for all our mafic glasses of −23‰. We compare the δD values of water extracted from our glasses to local meteoric waters following the inclusion of a −33‰ 103lnαglass-water. We find that, following a correction for residual magmatic water based on an average δD and wt.% H2Ot of recently erupted ashes from our study, the δD value of water extracted from hydrated volcanic glass is, on average, within 4‰ of local meteoric water. To better understand the difference in hydration rates of mafic and felsic glasses, we imaged 6 tephra clasts ranging in age and chemical composition with BSE (by FEI SEM) down to a submicron resolution. Mafic tephra have more bubbles per unit area (25–77mm−2) than felsic tephra (736mm−2) and thicker average bubble walls (0.07mm) than felsic tephra (0.02mm). We use a simplified diffusion model to quantify the hydration rate of vesicular glass as a function of the diffusivity of water and the average bubble wall thickness. Based on fits to our hydration rate data, we estimate the initial low-temperature diffusivity at 0.1wt.% H2Ot in volcanic glass (mafic and felsic) to be on the order of 10−3 to 10−4μm2/year and find that differences in hydration rates between mafic and felsic tephra can be attributed primarily to differences in vesicularity, although slightly slower hydration of basalt cannot be precluded. We also observe no consistent temporal difference in secondary meteoric water uptake in wet versus dry and hot versus cold climates.

Baryogenesis within the two-Higgs-doublet model in the electroweak scale

The conventional baryogenesis mechanism is based on the one Higgs doublet within the Standard Model, at the electroweak scale T ~ 100 GeV . In this model, the strong first-order phase transition due to the spontaneous symmetry breaking imposes the following condition on the mass of the Higgs field: mH ≲ 40 GeV , which is contrary to the recently observed value mH ≃ 126 GeV . In this paper, we propose a baryogenesis mechanism within a two-Higgs-doublet model in which the phase transition occurs in one stage. This model is consistent with the observed mass of the Higgs. We obtain the true vacuum bubble wall velocity and thickness in this model. Then, we use nonlocal baryogenesis mechanism in which the interaction of fermions with the boundary of the expanding bubbles leads to CP violation and sphaleron mediated baryogenesis.

Dependence of resonance frequencies and attenuation for large encapsulated bubbles on bubble wall thickness and bubble fill-material

Arrays of large encapsulated bubbles are currently under development for the purpose abating low-frequency anthropogenic underwater noise from various sources including marine pile driving and oil and gas exploration and production. An existing predictive model [Church, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 97, 1510–1521 (1995)], which was originally intended to describe propagation through suspensions of microbubbles used as ultrasound contrast agents, was previously found to be in good agreement with resonance frequency and attenuation measurements using large encapsulated with radii on the order of 10 cm [Lee et al., J. Acoust. Soc. Am 132, 2039 (2012); Lee and Wilson, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 19, 075048 (2013)]. For the current study, both laboratory and lake experiments were performed on large encapsulated bubbles to investigate the dependence of the bubbles’ resonance frequencies and attenuation on the bubble wall thickness. Additionally, laboratory measurements were made to investigate the effects on encapsulated bubble resonance frequencies and damping using bubble fill-materials other than air, and a lake experiment was then performed to relate these effects on the damping to the attenuation provided by arrays of such bubbles. [Work supported by AdBm Technologies.]

The Development of Expanded Snack Product Made from Pumpkin Flour-Corn Grits: Effect of Extrusion Conditions and Formulations on Physical Characteristics and Microstructure.

Pumpkin products confer natural sweetness, desirable flavours and β-carotene, a vitamin A precursor when added as ingredients to extruded snacks. Therefore, a potential use for dried pumpkin flour is as an ingredient in ready-to-eat (RTE) snack foods. Growth in this market has driven food manufacturers to produce a variety of new high value snack foods incorporating diverse ingredients to enhance the appearance and nutritional properties of these foods. Ready-to-eat snacks were made by extruding corn grits with 5%, 10%, 15% and 20% of pumpkin flour. Snacks made from 100% corn grits were used as control products for this work. The effect of formulation and screw speeds of 250 rpm and 350 rpm on torque and specific mechanical energy (SME, kWh/kg), physical characteristics (expansion ratio, bulk density, true density and hardness) and the microstructure of the snacks were studied. Increasing the screw speed resulted in a decrease of torque for all formulations. When pumpkin flour was added the specific mechanical energy (SME) decreased by approximately 45%. Increasing the percentage of pumpkin flour at the higher screw speed resulted in a harder texture for the extruded products. X-ray tomography of pumpkin flour-corn grit snacks showed that increased levels of pumpkin flour decreased both the bubble area and bubble size. However, no significant differences (p > 0.05) in bubble wall thickness were measured. By understanding the conditions during extrusion, desirable nutritional characteristics can be incorporated while maximizing expansion to make a product with low bulk density, a fine bubble structure and acceptable organoleptic properties.

A four-dimensional X-ray tomographic microscopy study of bubble growth in basaltic foam

Understanding the influence of bubble foams on magma permeability and strength is critical to investigations of volcanic eruption mechanisms. Increasing foam porosity decreases strength, enhancing the probability of an eruption. However, higher porosities lead to larger permeabilities, which can lessen the eruption hazard. Here we measure bubble size and wall thickness distributions, as well as connectivity, and calculate permeabilities and tensile strengths of basaltic foams imaged by synchrotron X-ray tomographic microscopy during bubble growth in hydrated basaltic melts. Rapid vesiculation produces porous foams whose fragmentation thresholds are only 5-6 MPa and whose permeabilities increase from approximately 1×10(-10) to 1×10(-9) m(2) between 10 and 14 s despite decreasing connectivity between bubbles. These results indicate that basaltic magmas are most susceptible to failure immediately upon vesiculation and at later times, perhaps only 10's of seconds later, permeability increases may lessen the hazard of explosive, basaltic, Plinian eruptions.

A fragmentation criterion for highly viscous bubbly magmas estimated from shock tube experiments

When a highly viscous bubbly magma is sufficiently decompressed, layer-by-layer fracturing propagates through the magma at a certain speed (fragmentation speed). On the basis of a recent shock tube theory by Koyaguchi and Mitani [Koyaguchi, T., Mitani, N. K., 2005. A theoretical model for fragmentation of viscous bubbly magmas in shock tubes. Journal of Geophysical Research 110 (B10), B10202. doi:10.1029/2004JB003513.], gas overpressures at the fragmentation surface are estimated from experimental data on fragmentation speed in shock tube experiments for natural volcanic rocks with various porosities. The results show that gas overpressure at the fragmentation surface increases as initial sample pressure increases and sample porosity decreases. We propose a new fragmentation criterion to explain the relationship between the gas overpressure at the fragmentation surface, the initial pressure and the porosity. Our criterion is based on the idea that total fragmentation of highly viscous bubbly magmas occurs when the tensile stress at the midpoint between bubbles exceeds a critical value. We obtain satisfactory agreement between our simulation and experiment when we assume that the critical value is inversely proportional to the square root of bubble wall thickness. This fragmentation criterion suggests that long micro-cracks or equivalent flaws (e.g., irregular-shaped bubbles) that reach the midpoints between bubbles are a dominant factor to determine the bulk strength of the bubbly magma.

The 1362 AD Öræfajökull eruption, Iceland: Petrology and geochemistry of large-volume homogeneous rhyolite

The ice-covered Öræfajökull stratovolcano is composed mostly of subglacial pillow lava and hyaloclastite tuff, ranging from basalt to rhyolite. A large devastating plinian eruption in 1362 AD produced 10 km 3 (2 km 3 DRE) rhyolitic ash and pumice from a vent within the summit caldera, with fallout mainly towards ESE. The ejected rhyolite magma with 0.5–1% crystals of oligoclase, fayalite, hedenbergite, ilmenite and magnetite was remarkably homogenous throughout the eruption. A 1.8 m thick tephra section on the SE flank of the volcano has 14 recognizable units. The tephra is dominated by fine-grained vesicular glass with bubble wall thickness of 1–5 μm. The high and even vesiculation of the glass indicates fast magma ascent and explains the extreme mechanical fragmentation within the eruptive column. The grain-size distribution indicates time-variable intensity of the plinian eruption with three evenly spaced phases of maximum fragmentation. An initial vent-clearing explosion produced phreatomagmatic debris with up to 35% lithic fragments. The low abundance (< 3%) of lithic fragments during the subsequent eruption indicates that the conduit and vent remained stable. The tephra fallout deposit is characterized by upwards increasing pumice dimensions and occasional bomb-like pumice blocks, indicating less mechanical fragmentation during contraction and lowering of the plinian column. A conservative estimate of 20–40 km 3 for the total volume of the magma reservoir is based on the erupted volume of highly differentiated and homogeneous rhyolite. The 365-year period between 1362 and a minor benmoreitic eruption in 1727, and the absence of currently detectable magma reservoirs in the crust below Öræfajökull show that differentiated crustal magma chambers feeding large plinian eruptions can be established and disappear on a 100–500 year timescale.

On the stability of a self-similar spherical bubble of a scalar Higgs field in de Sitter space

An exact generalized discontinuous solution of the spherical-bubble type is obtained for a scalar Higgs field in de Sitter space. It is shown that the radius of such a generalized bubble evolves in accordance with one of the exact solutions to a dynamical problem considered previously for the bubble radius in the thin-wall approximation, where the bubble-wall thickness is negligible in relation to the bubble radius. Both the generalized solution and the self-similar bubble-type solution that was obtained earlier for the Higgs field in de Sitter space are studied for stability: it is shown that the former is stable, while the latter is unstable in this space. A physical interpretation of the reasons for the instability of the self-similar solution is given.

B41 火砕噴出物の岩石組織 : 特に気泡壁厚さ分布からみた気泡数密度の多様性

B41 火砕噴出物の岩石組織 : 特に気泡壁厚さ分布からみた気泡数密度の多様性

Biaxial deformation of dough using the bubble inflation technique. I. Experimental

The bubble inflation test has been used to determine the equi-biaxial stress-strain curve of flour/water dough. This was achieved by undertaking experimental measurements of strain, wall thickness and radius of curvature at the top of the bubble as well as applied pressure. It was observed that the bubble was spherical initially but changed to an elliptical shape at large strains. The analysis derived by Bloksma (1957) was also used to calculate stress and strain at the top of the inflated bubble from gauge pressure and bubble volume data. It was found that the analysis led to accurate bubble heights at moderate strains only, a consequence of the non-spherical bubble shape. In addition, at the top of the bubble, the analytical strain was larger and the thickness was much smaller than the experimental values. The bubble wall thickness distribution was more uniform than the analytical predictions. The discrepancies in bubble height, radius of curvature, strain and thickness had a major effect in the analytical stress-strain curve, as both stress and strain were overestimated, the stress being in error by a factor of four at large strains. Therefore, it is concluded that when the bubble inflation test is used, it is necessary that experimental readings of strain, thickness and radius of curvature as well as pressure should be made to ensure accurate stress-strain curves.

Biaxial deformation of dough using the bubble inflation technique. II. Numerical modelling

In Part I the bubble inflation test was used to measure the stress-strain relationship of dough. A large disagreement was found between the stress-strain curve based on experimental data and the curve derived from Bloksma's analytical model. In Part II, a numerical simulation of the bubble inflation test is performed using Finite Element Analysis, in order to obtain further information regarding the accuracy of the analytical predictions. A hyperelastic model is assumed for the dough, with a strain energy potential described by the compressible form of the Mooney-Rivlin model. Four cases were investigated, corresponding to various combinations of material parameters of the Mooney-Rivlin model. The numerical results reinforce the conclusions drawn in Part I of the study, specifically that Bloksma's analysis of the bubble inflation could lead to large errors in the stress-strain curve. It was further concluded that the accuracy of the analysis was dependent on the material properties. For a neo-Hookeian material, the analysis leads to accurate results. This is because, for this material, all the assumptions made in the analysis regarding the bubble shape, the material's incompressibility and the bubble wall thickness distribution are accurate.