Single-framework simulations of acoustic-wave–bubble cloud–stone interactions

• Published in: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 2021-10, Vol.150 (4), p.A331-A331
• Main Authors: Spratt, Jean-Sebastien A., Rodriguez, Mauro, Bryngelson, Spencer H., Cao, Shunxiang, Colonius, Tim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0001-4966; 1520-8524
• DOI: 10.1121/10.0008476

Understanding the interaction of acoustic waves and stones is of principal importance to the development and optimization of shock wave and ultrasound-based therapies, such as shock wave and burst wave lithotripsy (SWL and BWL). Simulating these interactions is useful in furthering our understanding, but the development of simulation tools is complex. These tools often use separate numerical frameworks for compressible fluids and solids. Introducing cavitating bubble clouds which can occur during these therapies further complicates the problem, introducing a broad range of relevant spatio-temporal scales. To tackle these challenges, we have developed a single-framework code capable of simulating all relevant physics. Cavitating bubble clouds are introduced via a sub-grid model, and a hypoelastic model simulates solid materials, all in the same Eulerian framework. These are implemented in our open-source Multi-component Flow Code (MFC) [Bryngelson et al., Comp. Phys. Commun. (2020)]. We demonstrate the solver's capabilities for 3D SWL and BWL simulations, where we can obtain the stress state in the stone for various configurations. GPU-accelerated simulations also elucidate the computational advantages of the single-framework approach. [This research was supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH Grant No. 2P01-DK043881) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR Grant No. N0014-18-1-2625).]