Analytical expressions for primary Bjerknes force on inertial cavitation bubbles

Abstract

The primary Bjerknes force is responsible for the quick translational motion of radially oscillating bubbles in a sound field. The problem is classical in the case of small-amplitude oscillations, for which an analytical expression of the force can be easily obtained, and predicts attraction of sub- resonant bubbles by pressure antinodes. But for high-amplitude sound fields, the bubbles undergo large amplitude nonlinear oscillations, so that no analytical expression of the force is available in this case. The bubble dynamics is approximated on physical grounds, following the method of Hilgenfeldt et al. [J. Fluid Mech., 365, 171 (1998)], but carefully accounting for surface tension. The analytical expression of the maximum radius of the bubble is recovered, the time of maximum expansion is noticeably refined, and an estimation of the collapse-time is found. An analytical expression for the time-varying bubble volume is deduced, and the Bjerknes force is obtained in closed form. The result is valid for any shape of the sound field, including purely standing or purely traveling waves, and is ready to use in a theoretical model of bubble clouds evolution. Besides, the well-known sign inversion of the Bjerknes force for large standing waves is recovered and the inversion threshold in the parameter space is obtained analytically. The results are in good agreement with numerical simulation and allow a quantitative assessment of the physical parameters effect. It is found that either reducing surface tension, or increasing the static pressure, should produce a widening of the bubble-free region near high-amplitude pressure antinodes.