Fundamentals of Cavitation and Bubble Oscillations

Through high-speed experiments and modelling, we elucidate the complex mechanics associated with the oscillations and the violent collapse of cavitation bubbles, which are traditionally known to erode hydraulic turbine and ship propeller blades. The damaging power of collapsing bubbles is attributed to their ability to focus energy, which is released in the form of shock waves, high-speed flows and extreme heating. We study:

• bubble (pair) and droplet dynamics and the resulting unsteady flows (e.g. jetting)
  
• nucleation and dynamics of cavitation in different liquids
• new techniques to experimentally characterise high-speed flows at small scales