Observation and analysis of interactive phenomena between microbubbles and underwater shock wave

This paper reports the observation and analysis of the microbubble motion induced by an underwater shock wave. In the analysis, Herring’s bubble motion equation was numerically solved using an experimental shock wave pressure profile. The pressure attenuation of the rebound shock wave of a microbubble was also estimated by numerical simulation. The motion behaviors of the microbubbles during their interaction with an electric discharge shock wave, such as their rebound, shock wave generation, and microjet formation, were observed by magnified visualization. To improve the observation accuracy, spatial positioning control of the microbubbles was employed. The experimentally determined time variation of the diameter of the microbubbles when they collapsed spherically was in agreement with the results of the numerical analyses, and the latter also revealed a very high pressure of the rebound shock wave. There were, however, discrepancies between the experimental and analytical results for non-spherical collapse. It is thought that spherical collapse produces stronger rebound shock waves and that the probability of such collapse increases with decreasing diameter of the bubble. In addition, it was demonstrated that single and multiple microbubbles moved vigorously after interaction with a shock wave and the latter coalesced into a single bubble within several hundred microseconds.