Evolution of the air cavity during a depressurized wave impact. I. The kinematic flow field

This paper describes a systematic experimental study of the role of the ambient pressure on wave impact events in depressurized environments. A wave impact event of "mode (b)" [see Lugni , "Wave impact loads: The role of the flip-through," Phys. Fluids 18, 122101 (2006)] causes entrapment of an air cavity. Here the topological and kinematic aspects of its oscillation and evolution toward collapse into a mixture of water and air bubbles are studied, while Part II [Lugni , "Evolution of the air cavity during a depressurized wave impact. II. The dynamic field," Phys. Fluids 22, 056102 (2010)] focuses on the dynamic features of the flow. Four distinct stages characterize the flow evolution: (1) the closure of the cavity onto the wall, (2) the isotropic compression/expansion of the cavity, (3) its anisotropic compression/expansion, and (4) the rise of the cavity up the wall. The first two stages are mainly governed by the air leakage, the last two by the surrounding hydrodynamic flow, which contributes to compressing the bubble horizontally and to convecting it up the wall. Ullage pressure affects the ratio between the minimum and maximum cavity areas. An ullage pressure of 2.5% of the atmospheric pressure leads to an area ratio of about 360% of the equivalent ratio at atmospheric conditions.