Numerical and experimental benchmark study of nonspherical cavitation bubble dynamics near a rigid wall

Abstract

The collapse of a cavitation bubble near a rigid wall is a long-standing problem in ship building, ocean engineering, and ultrasonic cleaning. Despite significant advancements in numerical methods addressing this phenomenon, a comprehensive comparison of impact pressures on the wall induced by a collapsing bubble remains limited. This study rigorously examines bubble dynamics and the resulting impact pressures using several prominent algorithms, including the Eulerian Finite Element Method, Finite Volume Method and Compressible Boundary Integral Method. The computational efficiency and applicability of the three algorithms are discussed based on the same grid size. Subsequently, we measured the impact pressure generated by a collapsing bubble near the wall using a pressure sensor. The bubble profiles and pressure signals obtained from these different numerical approaches closely align with experimental observations. Then, we define two reference test-cases for different bubble-wall standoff distances ( γ = 1 . 2 and 0.8) and provide an in-depth analysis of pressure peak causes. The peak pressure values and impulses from pressure curves are generally consistent across methods, with impulse deviations not exceeding 6%. These findings contribute essential comparative insights for future studies on near-wall bubble dynamics and serve as a valuable reference for validating new numerical models. • This study benchmarks numerical simulations of impact pressure from a near-wall bubble. • This study defines two reference test-cases and analyses the pressure peak causes. • The pressure curves from experiments align well with the numerical results.

Topics & Concepts