Models for acoustically driven bubbles in channels

A model is developed for the dynamics of an acoustically driven bubble in a channel. The bubble is assumed to be smaller than the transverse dimension of the channel and spherical in shape. The channels considered are infinite in length and formed by either parallel planes or tubes with triangular, rectangular, or hexagonal cross sections. For surfaces that are rigid or pressure release, the boundary conditions on the channel walls in each of these geometries can be satisfied using the method of images. Effects due to confinement by the channel walls are thus determined by an analysis of coupled bubble interactions in line and plane arrays. An existing model for the coupled dynamics of spherical bubbles provides the basis for the model. Liquid compressibility is an essential feature of the model, both in terms of radiation damping and the finite propagation speed of acoustic waves radiated by the bubble. Solutions for the frequency response are obtained analytically by perturbation for low drive amplitudes and weak nonlinearity, and by numerical solution for high drive amplitudes and strong nonlinearity. The perturbation solutions for the radial motion at the drive frequency and its second harmonic are obtained in closed form for a bubble between parallel planes. The response of a bubble between rigid parallel planes is found to be mass controlled, whereas for a rigid tube it is found to be radiation damping controlled. The dynamics of a bubble located near the center of a tube are found to depend on the area but not the specific geometry of the cross section. At drive amplitudes below which subharmonic generation occurs, the numerical solutions for high drive amplitudes reveal the same general properties as the perturbation solutions for low drive amplitudes. All of the solutions can be extended to tubes with arbitrary wall impedance if the radiation impedance on the bubble is known, for example calculated by normal mode expansion.