The effect of bulk viscosity on single bubble dynamics and sonoluminescence

•New experimental work on bulk viscosity effect.•SB experiments were conducted in 30% (v/v) glycerol-water mixture solutions under different acoustic amplitudes.•A noticeable delay for the rebounds was found when bulk viscosity was considered.•The results confirmed that the negligible effect of bulk viscosity in low viscous solutions.•SB experiments in high viscous (more than 6 cP) solutions should be conducted to show non-negligible effect of bulk viscosity. In our previous paper, we derived a new single bubble model including the effect of bulk viscosity. To confront it to experiments, single bubble dynamics was measured here in 30% (v/v) glycerol-water mixture under different acoustic amplitudes and compared to models including or not the effect of bulk viscosity. The results showed that calculated bubble dynamics were not significantly affected by the bulk viscosity within the experimental conditions used in this study. However, there was a noticeable delay for the first rebound when bulk viscosity was considered. The corresponding sonoluminescence intensities were collected and compared with theoretical predictions. The results did not allow to discriminate between the two models (one includes the effect of bulk viscosity, the other does not), confirming the negligible effect of bulk viscosity in this condition (30% (v/v) glycerol-water mixture). Due to the instability of a single bubble in higher viscosity solutions, we could not implement experiments that can discriminate between the two models.