The structures and evolution of Smoker in an ultrasonic field

The structures and evolution of Smoker in a 20 kHz ultrasonic field were investigated experimentally with high-speed photography. The spine-plume structure of Smoker was discovered. A few large bubbles align themselves along the central line and form the spine of Smoker. Numerous small bubbles move towards the spine and form the plume structures. The size of large bubbles differs almost by an order of magnitude from that of small bubbles. The evolution of cavitation structure from Flare to Smoker was found. When a Flare appears near a Smoker, the Flare may merge into the plume structures of the Smoker, or form a double-tipped Smoker. A double-tipped Smoker seldom splits into two Smokers, while two separate Smokers tend to merge as one. The large bubbles (or dense plume structures) in the middle part of the two separate Smokers attract each other, driving the two Smokers to bend towards each other and merge.

► We discovered the spine-plume structure of Smoker on a transducer surface. ► Large bubbles align themselves in a line and move toward bigger bubbles in middle. ► Small bubbles move towards the nearest large bubbles and form plume structure. ► Flares may merge into the plume structure, or form a double-tipped Smoker. ► The big bubbles in middle of spine attract each other, make Smokers merge together.