Interactions between a Cavitation Bubble and Particles*

Because of its intense mechanical effects, cavitation can induce erosion on the materials of fluid machineries. The particles exciting in the fluids could enhance the damages caused by cavtitation, while the mechanisms of this process are still not very clear.

The behaviors of the cavitation bubbles play essential roles in this problem. In this research, the behaviors of a single cavitation bubble nearby one spherical particle, a pair of particles and a particle near a rigid boundary were investigated respectively through experiments. The single bubble was induced by a Nd:YAG pulsed laser in water. And the interactions between the bubble and the particles were recorded by a high speed camera. The morphological change of the bubble, the direction and the speed of the cavitation jet, and the collapse time were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The influences of several parameters were also investigated, such as, the size of the bubble, the size of the particle, the distance between the bubble, the particles and the boundary, and so on. All these factors may affect the dynamics of the bubble significantly.