CAVITATION OF A BUBBLE IN AN INVISCID COMPRESSIBLE LIQUID, WITH COMPARISONS TO A VISCOUS INCOMPRESSIBLE LIQUID

A model of a bubble, consisting of an adiabatic gas surrounded by an inviscid compressible liquid with surface tension at the liquid-gas interface, is studied in order to explain experimental results not explained (or not adequately explained) by the viscous incompressible liquid model. The inviscid compressible liquid model is used to predict various characteristics of cavitating and noncavitating bubbles. In particular, compressibility accounts for the rapid damping of bubble oscillations after the cavitation phase; an upper bound is determined for the pressure produced by cavitation; the sharp pressure spike at the initiation of cavitation is predicted; the threshold bubble radius for the onset of cavitation is estimated; and the range of bubble radii is estimated, for which the tension pulse is reproduced for certain noncavitating conditions. In many instances comparisons are made between the viscous incompressible liquid model and the inviscid compressible liquid model. © 1979 American Institute of Physics.