Direct numerical simulations of shock propagation in bubbly liquids

Abstract

The propagation of a pressure wave in an initially quiescent bubbly liquid of relatively high void fraction contained in a two-dimensional (2D) or three-dimensional (3D) rectangular domain is investigated by direct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations using a front-tracking/finite-volume method. The gas pressure inside the bubbles is either set equal to a constant or varied by the polytropic relation. Results obtained for 2D and 3D domains show mean shock speeds in agreement with those of one-dimensional homogeneous bubbly liquid theory.