Open AccessTheoretical and experimental study of acoustic waves generated by thermocavitation and its application in the generation of liquid jets
Author(s) -
R. Zaca-Morán,
J. Castillo-Mixcóatl,
N. E. Sierra-González,
José Manuel Pérez-Corte,
P. Zaca-Morán,
J. C. Ramírez-San-Juan,
R. Ramos-Garcı́a,
Juan Pablo Padilla-Martínez
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.375900
Subject(s) - bubble , optics , acoustics , fluidics , jet (fluid) , wavelength , acoustic wave , hydrophone , materials science , acoustic radiation force , physics , mechanics , engineering , aerospace engineering , ultrasound
Numerical simulations using the Finite-Difference Time-Domain method were used to study the propagation of an acoustic wave within a truncated ellipsoidal cavity. Based in our simulations, a fluidic device was designed and fabricated using a 3D printer in order to focus an acoustic wave more efficiently and expel a liquid jet. The device consists of an ellipsoidal shaped chamber filled with a highly absorbent solution at the operating wavelength (1064 nm) in order to create a vapor bubble using a continuous wavelength laser. The bubble rapidly expands and collapses emitting an acoustic wave that propagates inside the cavity, which was measured by using a needle hydrophone. The bubble collapse, and source of the acoustic wave, occurs in one focus of the cavity and the acoustic wave is focused on the other one, expelling a liquid jet to the exterior. The physical mechanism of the liquid jet generation is momentum transfer from the acoustic wave, which is strongly focused due to the geometry of the cavity. This mechanism is different to the methods that uses pulsed lasers for the same purpose. The maximum speed of the generated liquid microjets was approximately 20 m/s. One potential application of this fluidic device can be found for inkjet printing, coating and, maybe the most attractive, for drug delivery.