Numerical simulation and experimental study on resonant acoustic chambers

Jing Wang, Purdue University

Abstract

Resonant Acoustic Chambers (RACs) have important applications in sonoluminescence, sonofusion and particularly nuclear particle detection. The motivation for this work was to develop reliable numerical multiphysics models to simulate transient acoustically driven metastable states, and structural responses in the chambers so that the design of RACs can be optimized for future studies. In this thesis research, structural-acoustic-electromagnetic coupled numerical models were developed for RACs. Simulations and benchmarking experiments were also developed both for Open Chamber System (OCS) and Closed Chamber System (CCS), respectively. In the OCS, acoustic pressure profiles in the liquid involving pressure probe’s influence were researched; the influences of scattering centers in the liquid were studied as well. In the CCS, the performance of the system was studied as neutron radiation interacted with the liquid and resulted in nucleation of bubble clusters, the locations of which were found to match the predicted regions of sensitivity. A statistical study related to the experimentation revealed excellent reproducibility, when the same OCS test cell is used for repeated experiment campaigns, but the data between test cells may differ significantly. The benchmarking work showed that the models can successfully predict the performance of RACs (for both OCS and CCS) at fundamental resonance modes. Experiments with scattering centers successfully showed the significant and complex influences of such inclusions on the system’s acoustic responses. Despite nominal success, significantly, more work is needed, e.g. developing 3-D asymmetric model, to simulate the system with scattering centers.

Degree

M.S.

Advisors

Revankar, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Nuclear engineering

COinS