The unique confinement of shock waves inside isolated liquid volumes
amplifies the density of shock-liquid interactions. We investigate this
universal principle through an interdisciplinary study of shock-induced
cavitation inside liquid volumes, isolated in 2 and 3 dimensions. By combining
high-speed visualizations of ideal water drops realized in microgravity with
smoothed particle simulations we evidence strong shock-induced cavitation at
the focus of the confined shocks. We extend this analysis to
ground-observations of jets and drops using an analytic model, and argue that
cavitation caused by trapped shocks offers a distinct mechanism of erosion in
high-speed impacts (>100 m/s).Comment: 4 page letter, 4 figure
