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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/P012981/1
Title: Cavity collapses in complex geometries
Principal Investigator: Peters, Dr IR
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
BuBclean V.O.F.
Department: Faculty of Engineering & the Environment
Organisation: University of Southampton
Scheme: First Grant - Revised 2009
Starts: 09 January 2017 Ends: 08 January 2019 Value (£): 100,545
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Fluid Dynamics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
01 Dec 2016 Engineering Prioritisation Panel Meeting 1 and 2 December 2016 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form
Understanding the behaviour of bubbles in the vicinity of structures is important for many practical applications. Of particular interest is how bubbles collapse as a result of strong changes in pressure, which happens in sonochemistry applications, ultrasonic cleaning and is responsible for the cavitation damage in hydraulic systems. In the absence of any boundaries, an initially spherical bubble will remain spherical and collapse towards a single point. The same collapsing bubble near a plane wall, however, will result in a fast liquid jet shooting towards the wall. But what happens to such a bubble in more complex geometries, as appear in most applications, is currently unknown. This project aims to answer this fundamental question by investigating the controlled generation and collapse of bubbles in increasingly complex geometries.

There are three main subjects that will be investigated in this project. The first one is large cylindrical cavities that are analogues to two-dimensional cavitation bubbles. The large scale of these bubbles allows us to investigate the evolution of the shape and the flow field around the bubble in great detail. The second subject is laser-induced cavitation, where three-dimensional vapour bubbles are generated through a short focused laser pulse. Both techniques allow us to accurately control the position and size of the (two- or three-dimensional) cavitation bubble with respect to the surrounding geometry. The third part of the project is in collaboration with an ultrasonic cleaning company to investigate the influence of the observed phenomena on cleaning applications, with the aim to find routes to improve and optimize current ultrasonic cleaning techniques.

Key Findings
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Further Information:  
Organisation Website: http://www.soton.ac.uk