A compressible Lagrangian framework for the simulation of the underwater implosion of large air bubbles

Published in Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering Vol. 255 (1), pp. 210-225, 2013
doi: 10.1016/j.cma.2012.11.018

Abstract

A fully Lagrangian compressible numerical framework for the simulation of underwater implosion of a large air bubble is presented. Both air and water are considered compressible and the equations for the Lagrangian shock hydrodynamics are stabilized via a variationally consistent multiscale method. A nodally perfect matched definition of the interface is used and then the kinetic variables, pressure and density, are duplicated at the interface level. An adaptive mesh generation procedure, which respects the interface connectivities, is applied to provide enough refinement at the interface level. This framework is verified by several benchmarks which evaluate the behavior of the numerical scheme for severe compression and expansion cases. This model is then used to simulate the underwater implosion of a large cylindrical bubble, with a size in the order of cm. We observe that the conditions within the bubble are nearly uniform until the converging pressure wave is strong enough to create very large pressures near the center of the bubble. These bubble dynamics occur on very small spatial (0.3 mm), and time (0.1 ms) scales. During the final stage of the collapse Rayleigh–Taylor instabilities appear at the interface and then disappear when the rebounce starts. At the end of the rebounce phase the bubble radius reaches 50% of its initial value and the bubble recover its circular shape. It is when the second collapse starts, with higher mode shape instabilities excited at the bubble interface, that leads to the rupture of the bubble. Several graphs are presented and the pressure pulse detected in the water is compared by experiment.