This work concerns the experimental study of acoustic interactions in two- phase media. We intend to study the collective behavior of solid particles or gas bubbles immersed in a fluid, which will be forced by acoustic waves. We want to study systems with relatively simple interactions, but intense enough such that the radiation pressure is not negligible. More specifically, the effects that want to be studied are nonlinear in pressure amplitude. The interactions result from the scattering of sound by the objects (particles or bubbles).

The study the self-adaptation of a single object in a near-to-resonance acoustic cavity is under way; the collective behavior of many particles will be studied next. The complexity of the system will be increased step by step, by changing the number of particles and by investigating several geometries, from one-dimensional, to two and finally three-dimensional cavities. If the interactions are repulsive at short scales and attractive for large scales, we expect to have a macroscopic crystallization of the two-phase medium. If the interactions are solely attractive, the aggregation of objects is expected. We will therefore study the dynamics of self-organization or aggregation in systems where a continuous injection of energy is necessary.

People involved:
- Maria Luisa Cordero (Universidad de Chile)
- Nicolás Mujica (Universidad de Chile)