The acoustical signals produced by antibubble formation

An antibubble is an unusual object: a submerged water drop encapsulated in a thin shell of air that is stable underwater for 10-100 s. They are often thought of as the inverse of a soap bubble because they are a spherical shell of air in water in contrast to a shell of water in air. Antibubbles may be formed when water droplets impact the surface of surfactant-covered water, within a limited range of drop radius and drop impact velocity. In this paper, the range of drop size and impact velocity over which large antibubbles (radius 1-3 mm) are generated by the impact of falling drops is characterised, and the relationship of these parameters to the size of the antibubble formed is shown. Measurements of the two acoustical signals that may be produced as an antibubble is formed by drop impact are reported, and their relationship to the antibubble radius and shell thickness is established. Acoustical measurements taken are interpreted in the context of a modified Rayleigh-Plesset equation that provides a good fit to the frequency data for air shells greater than 100 μm in thickness. However, these results highlight the need for future work on the damping mechanisms associated with these larger antibubbles.