Numerical simulations of nonequilibrium chemical reactions inside an air bubble in liquid water irradiated by ultrasound have been performed for various ambient bubble radii. The intensity of sonoluminescence (SL) has also been calculated taking into account electron-atom bremsstrahlung, radiative attachment of electrons to neutral molecules, radiative recombination of electrons and ions, chemiluminescence of OH, molecular emission from nitrogen, etc. The lower bound of ambient radius for an active bubble in SL and sonochemical reactions nearly coincides with the Blake threshold for transient cavitation. The upper bound is in the same order of magnitude as that of the linear resonance radius. In actual experiments, however, the distribution of ambient radius for active bubbles may be narrow at around the threshold ambient radius for the shape instability. The threshold peak temperature inside an air bubble for nitrogen burning is higher than that for oxidant formation. The threshold peak temperatures depend on ultrasonic frequency and acoustic amplitude because chemical reactions inside a bubble are in nonequilibrium. The dominant emission mechanism in SL is electron-atom bremsstrahlung except at a lower bubble temperature than 2000 K, for which molecular emissions may be dominant.

No abstract

Numerical simulations of bubble pulsations have been performed for a system of two bubble clouds in order to study the experimentally observed bubble motion under an ultrasonic horn by high-speed video camera. The comparison between the calculated results and the experimental observation of the bubble pulsation has indicated that the bubble pulsation is strongly influenced by the interaction with surrounding bubbles. The expansion of a bubble during the rarefaction phase of ultrasound is strongly reduced by the bubble-bubble interaction. Some bubbles move toward the horn tip due to the secondary Bjerknes force acting from the bubbles near the horn tip. It has also been shown that the acoustic amplitude in the liquid is strongly reduced by cavitation due to the decrease in acoustic radiation resistance.

Numerical simulations of nonequilibrium chemical reactions in a pulsating air bubble have been performed for various ultrasonic frequencies (20 kHz, 100 kHz, 300 kHz, and 1 MHz) and pressure amplitudes (up to 10 bars). The results of the numerical simulations have indicated that the main oxidant is OH radical inside a nearly vaporous or vaporous bubble which is defined as a bubble with higher molar fraction of water vapor than 0.5 at the end of the bubble collapse. Inside a gaseous bubble which is defined as a bubble with much lower vapor fraction than 0.5, the main oxidant is H2O2 when the bubble temperature at the end of the bubble collapse is in the range of 4000-6500 K and O atom when it is above 6500 K. From the interior of a gaseous bubble, an appreciable amount of OH radical also dissolves into the liquid. When the bubble temperature at the end of the bubble collapse is higher than 7000 K, oxidants are strongly consumed inside a bubble by oxidizing nitrogen and the main chemical products inside a bubble are HNO2, NO, and HNO3.

Acoustic cavitation plays a significant role in many applications that include therapeutic medicine, sonochemsitry and materials processing. The type of cavitation bubbles generated, namely transient or stable (repetitive transient), is important for optimizing the efficiency of these applications. We report on a multibubble sonoluminescence (MBSL)-based experimental technique for the detection and the control of type of cavitation at low and high ultrasound frequencies. It is observed that the use of a horn-type sonicator operating at 20 kHz primarily generates transient cavitation bubbles, as reported earlier. However, the use of plate type transducers at low frequencies (25 and 37 kHz) generates a significant amount of stable cavitation, as evidenced from the quenching of sonoluminescence by volatile solutes. Evidence for the existence of transient cavitation at a higher ultrasound frequency (440 kHz) is also provided.

A noncontact manipulation technique is useful for micromachine technology, biotechnology, and new materials processing. In this paper, we describe an advanced manipulation technique for transporting small objects in air. A standing wave field was generated by two sound beams crossing each other generated by bolted Langevin transducers. Expanded polystyrene particles were trapped at the nodes of the sound pressure in the standing wave field. The position of a trapped particle was shifted by changing the phase difference between the two sound beams. When the trapped particle is transported, it spatially oscillate periodically in a direction perpendicular to that of particle transportation. The numerical calculation of an acoustic field revealed that it is caused by the reflection of an ultrasonic wave at each transducer surface.

No abstract

An intensified charge-couped device (CCD) camera was used to capture raw images of multibubble sonoluminescence, generated by 168 and 448 kHz ultrasound. The effect of various air and surfactant concentrations, and pulse conditions on the acoustic pressure distribution, percentage of standing wave component, the structure of the sonoluminescence activity, and speed of streaming was investigated. It was observed that the enhancement in the sonoluminescence intensity by appropriate degassing, pulsing, and addition of sodium dodecylsulfate were closely related to an expansion in the spatial distribution of sonoluminescence activity. This broadening in the spatial distribution is correlated with a high percentage of standing wave component. This effect stems from the reduction in the attenuation of the acoustic field by inhibiting the formation of large coalesced bubbles.