Search

We report a study of liquid jets which are formed by bubble collapse under cavitation-generated pressure waves. The results obtained for jets formed from samples of a multigrade motor oil provide the first evidence that such jets experience a significant degree of extensional deformation, at high rates of extension. The results support the conclusion that the reduced velocity and final length of such jets, relative to their Newtonian counterparts, is due to an increased resistance to extensional flow. Insofar as the multigrade oils studied here are made viscoelastic by polymer additives and evidently possess significant levels of resistance to extension, the results provide evidence in support of a mitigating effect of viscoelasticity on a cavitation damage mechanism, as mooted by Berker et al. (J Non Newton Fluid Mech 56:333, 1995).

This paper describes experiments in which a shock wave, emanating from the collapse of a cavitation bubble, causes a second bubble to collapse, thereby producing a liquid jet. A comparison of the jets formed by bubble collapse in dilute solutions of polyacrylamide and polyethylene oxide, and in their Newtonian counterparts, shows that in the polymer solutions liquid jet development is markedly suppressed. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of cavitation damage.