A Experimental Investigation of Acoustic Cavitation in Gaseous Liquids

High amplitude radial pulsations of a single gas bubble in several glycerine and water mixtures have been observed in an acoustic stationary wave system at acoustic pressure amplitudes as high as 1.5 bars. Using a laser scattering technique, radius-time curves have been obtained experimentally which confirm the absence of surface waves. Measurements of the pulsation amplitude, the timing of the major bubble collapse, and the number of rebounds have been made and compared with the theory. From these data, calculations of the internal gas temperature and pressure during the collapse have been performed. Values of at least 2,000 K and 2,000 bars have been obtained using a sophisticated model of spherically symmetric bubble dynamics. Simultaneously, sonoluminescence (SL), a phenomenon discovered in 1933 and attributed today to the high temperatures and pressures generated during the collapse of the bubbles, were observed as short light pulses occurring once every acoustic period. The light emissions can be seen to originate at the geometric center of the bubble when observed through a microscope. Also, the simultaneity of the light emissions and the collapse of the bubble has been confirmed with the aid of a photomultiplier tube. This is the first recorded observation of SL generated by a single bubble. Comparisons of the measured quantities have been made to those predicted by several models. In addition, the implications of this research on the current understanding of cavitation related phenomena such as rectified diffusion, surface wave excitation and sonoluminescence will be discussed. Some possible future experiments are suggested which could further increase our understanding of cavitation bubble dynamics.