Vortex ring formation from the interaction of a cavitation bubble with a confined air bubble: experiments and a timing criterion

Abstract

We study vortex ring formation arising from the interaction between a cavitation bubble and a confined air bubble in a cylindrical blind hole, using high-speed shadowgraphy imaging. As the cavitation bubble grows above the hole, it drives a downward flow that compresses the air bubble at the base. The air bubble subsequently expands, expelling the overlying liquid column upward as a coherent slug; impact of this slug on the far boundary of the collapsing cavitation bubble produces a vortex ring. Parametric experiments across the dimensionless stand-off distance $\mathcal{H} = h/R_{\max}$ and the air bubble fill fraction $\mathcal{B} = (d_\text{hole} - d_\text{top})/d_\text{hole}$ identify three regimes: (i) liquid column impact during collapse, producing a vortex ring ($\mathcal{H} \lesssim 0.5$, $\mathcal{B} \lesssim 0.5$); (ii) late impact near the end of collapse (large $\mathcal{H}$); and (iii) direct air bubble impact after bypassing the liquid column (large $\mathcal{B}$), with neither (ii) nor (iii) producing a ring. Two one-dimensional models, based on the Rayleigh-Plesset equation and isentropic air bubble expansion, predict the liquid column impact location and its speed $U_\text{lc}$, respectively. A dimensionless timing parameter $\Pi = (h + R_{\max}) / (U_\text{lc} \cdot t_\text{cav}/2)$, comparing the liquid column travel time to the cavitation collapse half-period, distinguishes the three regimes: ring formation occurs for $1 \lesssim \Pi \lesssim 1.5$. The ring propagates from the hole at an initial speed of $5$ m/s, decelerating quadratically, and breaks apart via azimuthal instabilities at $Re \approx 4500$.