Motion of a Free-Settling Spherical Particle Driven by a Laser-Induced Bubble

Abstract

We document experimentally four different interactions of a laser-induced bubble and a free-settling particle, with different combinations of the geometric and physical parameters of the system. Our force balance model shows that four nondimensional factors involving the particle radius a, the maximum bubble radius R_{max}, the initial separation distance l_{0} between the particle center and the bubble center, the fluid viscosity μ_{f}, and the particle and fluid densities ρ_{p} and ρ_{f}, respectively, in detail l_{0}/R_{max}, a/R_{max}, ρ_{p}/ρ_{f}, and μ^{*}=μ_{f}T_{c}/ρ_{f}R_{max}^{2}, where T_{c}=0.915R_{max}sqrt[ρ_{f}/(p_{∞}-p_{v})], influence the particle-bubble dynamics, and reasonably predict the maximum particle velocity and the limiting condition when the particle starts to "bounce off" the bubble during bubble growth. In particular, we also discover the high-speed ejection of the particle, and a cavity behind the particle, in cases when initially the particle is in very close proximity to the bubble. These observations offer new insights into the causal mechanism for the enhanced cavitation erosion in silt-laden water.