BUBBLE REGENERATION AND BROADENING

AND HYPOTHETICAL IMPACTS ON

DECOMPRESSION SCHEDULES
B. R. Wienke
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Program Manager Computational Physics
C & C Dive Team Leader
Los Alamos, NM 87545

T.R. O’Leary
NAUI Worldwide
Director NAUI Technical Diving Operations
American Diving And Marine Salvage
South Padre Island, TX 33578

O.M. Del Cima

Federal University of Vicosa
Associate Professor Department of Physics
NAUI Instructor
Vicosa, BRAZIL
 Special Thanks To NAUI Brazil
6/6/2018
Alvanir Oliviera and Wado Del Cima 2
 Bruce Wienke
¾Extreme exposure diver
¾C&C Dive Team Leader
WMD Amelioration
¾LANL Program Manager
Computational Physics
¾Few other jobs
¾NAUI Tec/Rec CD
 Tim O’Leary

zDMT
zCHT
zSat Diver/Supervisor
zDirector NAUI Tec Ops
zFew other jobs
zEarly deep stop testor
zNAUI training data guy
zWorldwide diver
 Wado Del Cima

zUniversity of Vicosa
zAssociate Professor
of Physics
zFew other jobs
zPerforming Bubble
Experiments in Lab
zWorldwide Diver
zNAUI Instructor
 Rundown

z Lab Experiments Inert Bubble Counts

z Bubble Regeneration

z Bubble Broadening

z Hypothetical Impacts
Microns

z Bubble Lore Q&A

z Wrapup and Future

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 DIVING BUBBLES
“Real tough and thankless work”, Yount, 1983

z Bubbles first spotted in decompressed snake eyes

in 1878 – clue for later caisson work (Bert)
z In-vivo bubble studies prior 80s often contradictory
and null – measurements invasive in watery living
systems (Bateman, Harvey, Buckles, Yang, Vann)
z Non invasive measurements (Doppler) in 90s count
bubble number and size in blood flows – imaging too
but still no bubble structure (Eckenhoff, Nishi, Smith,
Powell, Sawatzky, Spencer)
z Engineering applications today count numbers, size,
distributions, structure -- expensive and not for field
z Gel studies 80s usher in new era for diving – but still
6/6/2018)
not perfused and metabolic media (Yount, Strauss) 7
 DIVING BUBBLES
“Need Impossible Experiments “, Strauss, 1988

z All laboratory bubble substrates are not the body.

z Gel, agar, salmon blood, hydrocarbons, oil
substrates etc are not perfused and metabolic.
z Gel, agar, salmon and shrimp blood, hydrocarbons,
oil, etc have different molecular properties affecting
bubble formation. Transport coefficients vary widely
as do nucleation probabilities.
z Body bubbles are formed from an uncountable
variety of lipid and aqueous proteins and are more
complex in structure than laboratory substrates.
z Rheological extensions of laboratory parameters like
density, viscosity, surface tension, etc to tissue and
6/6/2018 8
blood are always questionable and not in vivo.
 BUBBLE REGENERATION
DIVING IMPLICATIONS
z Seen in many natural phenomena in static and
moving systems
z Sea water, bubble columns, chemical reactions,
reactor coolant flows, waves, turbulent mixing
z Some experiments suggest bubble hysteresis in lipid
environments
z Never seen nor measured in the body
z Not observed in Yount gel and agar bubble studies
z Impossible to measure in Doppler counting
z Embedded easily in USN, ZHL, VPM, RGBM models
z Small effects over nominal dive times
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 Bubble Regeneration Impacts
On Diver Staging

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 BUBBLE BROADENING
DIVING IMPLICATIONS
z Seen in many natural phenomena in static systems
z Ice cream,
z Experiments in hydrocarbon substrates interesting
for rheological extension to blood and tissue
z Kabalnov and Del Cima experiments extended to
diving
z Never seen nor measured in the body
z Not observed in Yount gel and agar bubble studies
z Impossible to measure in Doppler counting
z Embedded easily in USN, ZHL, VPM, RGBM models
z Small effects over nominal dive times
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 Bubble Distribution Mean Radius
Glycerol-Water Substrate

6/6/2018 12
 Bubble Numbers
Glycerol-Water Substrate

6/6/2018 13
 Bubble Broadening Impacts
On Diver Staging

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 Bubble Broadening Impacts
On Diver Staging

6/6/2018 15
 DIVING BUBBLES
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
z Bubbles collapse under surface tension -- nada
z Bubbles follow Boyle’s law – nada
z Doppler bubbles are DCS bubbles – maybe
z M-values are trigger points for bubbles – nada
z Bubbles can be stabilized in the body – probably
z Deepest dive first crushes bubbles – maybe
z Bubble model diving is riskier – nada
z Doppler has bubble size detection limits – aye
z Bubbles form on every dive – aye
z All models are fully tested – never but getting better
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 FEW JUST A MORE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
z Model tissue compartments are real – nada
z Persistent bubbles can remain in divers – probably
z Gel and body bubbles are close – nada
z Both tissue and blood respond to bubbles – aye
z Seed reduction offers acclimatization – maybe
z Bubble models are complete – nada
z Dissolved gas models are complete -- nada
z Bubble models compute deep stops and dissolved
gas models compute shallow stops – nominally
z Both models work in the real diving world and can
be dived safely – aye
z Models are fully tested – absolutely nada
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THANKS
 Quick Questions?
But Only If You Are From North Carolina