Jets in quiescent bubbles caused by a nearby oscillating bubble

Abstract

An oscillating bubble near another (stationary) bubble can give rise to interesting interactions. Such a nonequilibrium (oscillating) bubble can create a jet in a smaller nearby (initially stationary) bubble as demonstrated in this study both experimentally and numerically. In the experimental study, a spark-generated bubble (through a short circuit with two electrodes) was generated near a stationary smaller bubble. In order to keep the millimeter-sized bubble stationary, it was trapped in a droplet of silicone oil attached to one of the electrodes. The jet in the initially stationary bubble can reach velocities up to 250 ms, but the velocity becomes lower for bubbles that are larger or situated further away. The current article also describes some experiments with the appearance of a crown-like secondary jet on the free surface (regarded as a large stationary bubble) relatively long after the bubble has collapsed. Some other interesting interactions of a spark-generated bubble with more than one stationary bubble are presented. © 2012 American Institute of Physics.