Tiny Bubbles Hold Clue to Better Performing Industrial Technologies
July 31, 2019 | University of EdinburghEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Insights into how minute, yet powerful, bubbles form and collapse on underwater surfaces could help make industrial structures such as ship propellers more hardwearing, research suggests.
Supercomputer calculations have revealed details of the growth of so-called nanobubbles, which are tens of thousands of times smaller than a pin head. The findings could lend valuable insight into damage caused on industrial structures, such as pump components, when these bubbles burst to release tiny but powerful jets of liquid.
This rapid expansion and collapse of bubbles, known as cavitation, is a common problem in engineering but is not well understood. Engineers at the University of Edinburgh devised complex simulations of air bubbles in water, using the UK's national supercomputer. The team modelled the motion of atoms in the bubbles and observed how they grew in response to small drops in water pressure.
They were able to determine the critical pressure needed for bubble growth to become unstable, and found that this was much lower than suggested by theory. Their findings could inform the development of nanotechnologies to harness the power of thousands of jets from collapsing nanobubbles, such as therapies to target some cancers, or for cleaning high-precision technical equipment. Researchers have proposed an updated theory on the stability of surface nanobubbles, based on their findings.
Their study, published in Langmuir, was supported by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Duncan Dockar, of the University of Edinburgh's School of Engineering, said: "Bubbles routinely form and burst on surfaces that move through fluids and the resulting wear can cause drag and critical damage. We hope our insights, made possible with complex computing, can help limit the impact on machine performance and enable future technologies."
Suggested Items
RTX Signs Largest Renewable Electricity Deal with ENGIE
04/19/2024 | RTXRTX announced an agreement with a subsidiary of ENGIE North America (ENGIE) that will provide 100% renewable electricity to 12 of the company’s Texas facilities.
RTX Provides Blue Canyon Satellite to Help Solve a Crucial Climate Challenge
04/16/2024 | RTXBlue Canyon Technologies, RTX's small satellite manufacturer and mission services provider, announced the successful launch and initial contact with the MethaneSAT satellite.
Report Reveals ‘True Impact’ of Manufacturing is Nearly a Quarter of UK GDP
04/15/2024 | Manufacturing Technologies AssociationManufacturing is having a far greater impact on the UK economy than first thought according to a major new report released today.
IDC Estimates that GenAI Will Increase Marketing Productivity More Than 40% by 2029
04/03/2024 | IDCNew research from International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that applying generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to a range of enterprise marketing tasks will result in an estimated productivity increase of more than 40% by 2029.
North American PCB Industry Sales Down 11.6% in February
03/25/2024 | IPCIPC announced today the February 2024 findings from its North American Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Statistical Program. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.07.