Implosion of an underwater spark-generated bubble and acoustic energy evaluation using the Rayleigh model

The growth, collapse, and rebound of a vapor bubble generated by an underwater spark is studied by means of high-speed cinematography, simultaneously acquiring the emitted acoustic signature. Video recordings show that the growth and collapse phases are nearly symmetrical during the first two or three cycles, the bubble shape being approximately spherical. After 2-3 cycles the bubble behavior changes from a collapsing/rebounding regime with sound-emitting implosions to a pulsating regime with no implosions. The motion of the bubble wall during the first collapses was found to be consistent with the Rayleigh model of a cavity in an incompressible liquid, with the inclusion of a vapor pressure term at constant temperature within each bubble cycle. An estimate of the pressure inside the bubble is obtained measuring the collapse time and maximum radius, and the amount of energy converted into acoustical energy upon each implosion is deduced. The resulting value of acoustic efficiency was found to be in agreement with measurements based on the emitted acoustic pulse.