Eur. Phys. J. B 54, 321-339 (2006)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2006-00450-0

Acoustic signal associated with the bursting of a soap film which initially closes an overpressurized cavity

Experiment and theory

¹ Laboratorio de Física No Lineal and Center for Advanced Interdisciplinary Research in Materials (CIMAT), Departamento de Física, Universidad de Santiago de Chile (USACH), Avenida Ecuador 3493, Santiago, Chile
² Laboratoire de Physique, École Normale Supérieure de Lyon, 46 Allée d'Italie, 69364 Lyon Cedex 07, France

Corresponding author: ^a jean-christophe.geminard@ens-lyon.fr

Received: 3 May 2006
Revised: 10 November 2006
Published online: 20 December 2006

Abstract

We report an experimental study of the sound produced by the bursting of a thin liquid film, which initially closes an overpressurized cylindrical cavity. There is a need for a deep understanding of the phenomenon, which can be very useful in numerous practical cases. For instance, in the nature, the volcanologists observe the bursting of large, elongated, gas-bubbles at the surface of lava lakes and record the associated sound emission. One can wonder which pieces of information they can get from such acoustic measurements. For a didactic purpose, we provide also the reader with all the theoretical background necessary for the understanding of the physical processes that govern the various characteristics of the acoustic signals: the cavity geometry governs the frequency; the viscous dissipation and the radiation are responsible for the damping; the acoustic energy informs about the characteristic time associated with the film-rupture more than about the energy initially loaded in the cavity.