Investigation of hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene propellant breaking characteristics and mechanism impacted by submerged cavitation water jet

A submerged cavitation water jet(SCWJ)is an effective method to recycle solid propellant from obsolete solid engines by the breaking method.Solid propellant's breaking modes and mechanical process under SCWJ impact are unclear.This study aims to understand those impact breaking mechanisms.The hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene(HTPB)propellant was chosen as the research material,and a self-designed test system was used to conduct impact tests at four different working pressures.The high-speed camera characterized crack propagation,and the DIC method calculated strain change during the impact process.Besides,micro and macro fracture morphologies were characterized by scanning electron microscope(SEM)and computed tomography(CT)scanning.The results reveal that the compressive strain concentration region locates right below the nozzle,and the shear strain region distributes symmetrically with the jet axis,which increases to 4% at first 16th ms,the compressive strain rises to 2% and 6% in the axial and transverse direction,respectively.The two tensile cracks formed first at the compression strain concentrate region,and there generate many shear cracks around the tensile cracks,and those shear cracks that develop and aggregate cause the cracks to become wider and cut through the tensile cracks,forming the tensile-shear cracks and the impact parts eventually fail.The HTPB propellant forms a breaking hole shaped conical after impact 10 s.The mass loss increases by 17 times at maximum,with the working pressure increasing by three times.Meanwhile,the damage value of the breaking hole remaining on the surface increases by 7.8 times while 2.9 times in the depth of the breaking hole.The breaking efficiency is closely affected by working pressures.The failure modes of HTPB impacted by SCWJ are classified as tensile crack-dominated and tensile-shear crack-dominated damage mechanisms.

Recent Developments in Hydrodynamic Cavitation Reactors:Cavitation Mechanism,Reactor Design,and Applications

Hydrodynamic cavitation is considered to be a promising technology for process intensification,due to its high energy efficiency,cost-effective operation,ability to induce chemical reactions,and scale-up possibilities.In the past decade,advancements have been made in the fundamental understanding of hydrodynamic cavitation and its main variables,which provide a basis for applications of hydrodynamic cavitation in radical-induced chemical reaction processes.Here,we provide an extensive review of these research efforts,including the fundamentals of hydrodynamic cavitation,the design of cavitation reactors,cavitation-induced reaction enhancement,and relevant industrial applications.Two types of hydrodynamic cavitation reactors—namely,stationary and rotational—are compared.The design parameters of a hydrodynamic cavitation reactor and reactor performance at the laboratory and pilot scales are discussed,and recommendations are made regarding optimal operation and geometric conditions.The commercial cavitation reactors that are currently on the market are reviewed here for the first time.The unique features of hydrodynamic cavitation have been widely applied to various chemical reactions,such as oxidization reactions and wastewater treatment,and to physical processes,such as emulsion generation and component extraction.The roles of radicals and gas bubble implosion are also thoroughly discussed.

Research on Cavitation Characteristics and Influencing Factors of Herringbone Gear Pump

Cavitation is a common issue in pumps,causing a decrease in pump head,a fall in volumetric efficiency,and an intensification of outlet flow pulsation.It is one of the main hazards that affect the regular operation of the pump.Research on pump cavitation mainly focuses on mixed flow pumps,jet pumps,external spur gear pumps,etc.However,there are few cavitation studies on external herringbone gear pumps.In addition,pumps with different working principles significantly differ in the flow and complexity of the internal flow field.Therefore,it is urgent to study the cavitation characteristics of external herringbone gear pumps.Compared with experimentalmethods,visual research and cavitation area identification are achieved through computation fluid dynamic(CFD),and changing the boundary conditions and shape of the gear rotor is easier.The simulation yields a head error of only 0.003%under different grid numbers,and the deviation between experimental and simulation results is less than 5%.The study revealed that cavitation causes flow pulsation at the outlet,and the cavitation serious area is mainly distributed in the meshing gap and meshing area.Cavitation can be inhibited by reducing the speed,increasing the inlet pressure,and changing the helix angle can be achieved.For example,when the inlet pressure is 5 bar,the maximumgas volume fraction in themeshing area is less than 50%.These results provide a reference for optimizing the design and finding the optimal design parameters to reduce or eliminate cavitation.

Experimental and Numerical Evaluation of the Cavitation Performances of Self-Excited Oscillating Jets

Self-excited oscillating jets(SOJ)are used in several practical applications.Their performances are significantly affected by structural parameters and the target distance.In this study,a geometric model of the SOJ nozzle accounting for multiple structural parameters is introduced,then the related cavitation performances and the optimal target distance are investigated using a Large-Eddy Simulation(LES)approach.Results are also provided about an experiment,which was conducted to validate the simulation results.By analyzing the evolution of the vapor volume fraction at the nozzle outlet,a discussion is presented about the effect of the aforementioned structural parameters on the cavitation performances and the target distance.It is shown that the distribution of cavitation clouds at the outlet of the SOJ nozzle displays a non-monotonic trend(first increasing,then decreasing).Under working conditions with an inlet pressure of 4 MPa,a SOJ nozzle outlet/inlet diameter ratio(D_(1)/D_(2))of 1.2,and a chamber diameter ratio(D/L)close to 1.8,the nozzle outlet cavitation performance attains a maximum.The optimal structural parameters correspond to the optimal target distance,which is near 50 mm.The experiments have revealed that the SOJ nozzle with the above parameters displays a good cavitation erosion effect at the target distance of 50 mm,in satisfactory agreement with the numerical simulation results.

Numerical Investigation of the Angle of Attack Effect on Cloud Cavitation Flow around a Clark-Y Hydrofoil

Cavitation is a prevalent phenomenon within the domain of ship and ocean engineering,predominantly occurring in the tail flow fields of high-speed rotating propellers and on the surfaces of high-speed underwater vehicles.The re-entrant jet and compression wave resulting from the collapse of cavity vapour are pivotal factors contributing to cavity instability.Concurrently,these phenomena significantly modulate the evolution of cavitation flow.In this paper,numerical investigations into cloud cavitation over a Clark-Y hydrofoil were conducted,utilizing the Large Eddy Simulation(LES)turbulence model and the Volume of Fluid(VOF)method within the OpenFOAM framework.Comparative analysis of results obtained at different angles of attack is undertaken.A discernible augmentation in cavity thickness is observed concomitant with the escalation in attack angle,alongside a progressive intensification in pressure at the leading edge of the hydrofoil,contributing to the suction force.These results can serve as a fundamental point of reference for gaining a deeper comprehension of cloud cavitation dynamics.

Hydrodynamic Cavitation Enhanced SR-Aops Degradation of Organic Pollutants in Water:A Review

SR-AOP(sulfate radical advanced oxidation process)is a novel water treatment method able to eliminate refractory organic pollutants.Hydrodynamic cavitation(HC)is a novel green technology,that can effectively produce strong oxidizing sulfate radicals.This paper presents a comprehensive review of the research advancements in these fields and a critical discussion of the principal factors influencing HC-enhanced SR-AOP and the mechanisms of synergistic degradation.Furthermore,some insights into the industrial application of HC/PS are also provided.Current research shows that this technology is feasible at the laboratory stage,but its application on larger scales requires further understanding and exploration.In this review,some attention is also paid to the design of the hydrodynamic cavitation reactor and the related operating parameters.

Behaviors of cavitation bubbles driven by high-intensity ultrasound

In a multi-bubble system, the bubble behavior is modulated by the primary acoustic field and the secondary acoustic field. To explore the translational motion of bubbles in cavitation liquids containing high-concentration cavitation nuclei,evolutions of bubbles are recorded by a high-speed camera, and translational trajectories of several representative bubbles are traced. It is found that translational motion of bubbles is always accompanied by the fragmentation and coalescence of bubbles, and for bubbles smaller than 10 μm, the possibility of bubble coalescence is enhanced when the spacing of bubbles is less than 30 μm. The measured signals and their spectra show the presence of strong negative pressure, broadband noise,and various harmonics, which implies that multiple interactions of bubbles appear in the region of high-intensity cavitation.Due to the strong coupling effect, the interaction between bubbles is random. A simplified triple-bubble model is developed to explore the interaction patterns of bubbles affected by the surrounding bubbles. Patterns of bubble interaction, such as attraction, repulsion, stable spacing, and rebound of bubbles, can be predicted by the theoretical analysis, and the obtained results are in good agreement with experimental observations. Mass exchange between the liquid and bubbles as well as absorption in the cavitation nuclei also plays an important role in multi-bubble cavitation, which may account for the weakening of the radial oscillations of bubbles.

Morphological analysis for thermodynamics of cavitation collapse near fractal solid wall

A fractal geometric boundary with natural wall features is introduced into a hybrid lattice-Boltzmann-method(LBM)multiphase model. The physical model of cavitation bubble collapse near the irregular geometric wall is established to study the thermodynamic characteristics of the bubble collapse. Due to the lack of periodicity, symmetry, spatial uniformity and obvious correlation in the LBM simulation of the bubble collapse near the fractal wall, the morphological analysis based on Minkowski functional is introduced into the thermodynamic investigation of cavitation bubble so as to analyze and obtain the effective information. The results show that the Minkowski functional method can employed to study the temperature information in complex physical fields hierarchically and quantitatively. The high/low temperature region of the cavitation flow is explored, and thermal effect between irregular and fractal geometric wall and cavitation bubble can be revealed. It illustrates that LBM and morphological analysis complement each other, and morphological analysis can also be used as an optional and potential tool in research field of complex multiphase flows.

Investigation of Cavitation in NaCl Solutions in a Sonochemical Reactor Using the Foil Test Method

Ultrasonic baths and sonochemical reactors are widely used in industrial applications dealing with surface cleaningand chemical synthesis. The processes of erosion, cleaning and structuring of the surface can be typically controlledby changing relevant influential parameters. In particular, in this work, we experimentally investigate theeffect of NaCl concentration (0–5.5 mol/L) on the erosion of an aluminum foil under ultrasonic exposure at afrequency of 28 kHz. Special attention is paid to the determination of cavitation zones and their visualizationusing heat maps. It is found that at low NaCl concentration (0.3 mol/L), the foil destruction rate is higher thanin distilled water. At higher concentrations of salt, cavitation takes place mainly in the upper part of the container.

Jet Characteristics and Optimization of a Cavitation Nozzle for Hydraulic Fracturing Applications

Hydraulic jetting is a form of fracturing that involves using a high-pressure jet of water to create fractures in the reservoir rock with a nozzle serving as the central component of the hydraulic sandblasting perforation tool.In this study,the flow behavior of the nozzle is simulated numerically in the framework of a SST k-ωturbulence model.The results show that the nozzle structure can significantly influence the jet performance and related cavitation effect.Through orthogonal experiments,the nozzle geometric parameters are optimized,and the following configuration is found accordingly:contraction angle 20°,contraction segment length 6 mm,cylindrical segment diameter 6 mm,cylindrical segment length 12 mm,spread segment length 10 mm,and spread angle 55°.

Effect of leading edge roughness on cavitation inception and development on thin hydrofoil

The cavitation incipience and development of water flow over a thin hydrofoil placed in the test section of high-speed cavitation tunnel were investigated.Hydrofoils with smooth and rough leading edge were tested for different upstream velocities and incidence angles.The observations clearly revealed that cavitation incipience is enhanced by roughness at incidence angle below 2°.This is in line with the former reports,according to whose roughness element decreases the wettability and traps a larger amount of gas.As a result,surface nucleation is enhanced with an increased risk of cavitation.Surprisingly,for higher incidence angles(>3°),it was found that cavitation incipience is significantly delayed by roughness while developed cavitation is almost the same for both smooth and rough hydrofoils.This unexpected incipience delay is related to the change in the boundary layer structure due to roughness.It was also reported a significant influence of roughness on the dynamic of developed cavitation and shedding of transient cavities.

A CFD Study on the Mechanisms Which Cause Cavitation in Positive Displacement Reciprocating Pumps

A transient multiphase CFD （computational fluid dynamics） model was set up to investigate the main causes which lead to cavitation in PD （positive displacement） reciprocating pumps. Many authors agree on distinguishing two different types of cavitation affecting PD pumps： flow induced cavitation and cavitation due to expansion. The flow induced cavitation affects the zones of high fluid velocity and consequent low static pressure e.g. the valve-seat volume gap while the cavitation due to expansion can be detected in zones where the decompression effects are important e.g. in the vicinity of the plunger. This second factor is a distinctive feature of PD pumps since other devices such as centrifugal pumps are only affected by the flow induced type. Unlike what has been published in the technical literature to date, where analysis of positive displacement pumps are based exclusively on experimental or analytic methods, the work presented in this paper is based entirely on a CFD approach, it discusses the appearance and the dynamics of these two phenomena throughout an entire pumping cycle pointing out the potential of CFD techniques in studying the causes of cavitation and assessing the consequent loss of performance in positive displacement pumps.

Generation and Evolution of Cavitation Bubbles in Volume Alternate Cavitation(VAC)

Cavitation generation methods have been used in multifarious directions because of their diversity,and numerous studies and discussions have been conducted on cavitation generation methods.This study aims to explore the generating mechanism and evolution law of volume alternate cavitation(VAC).In the VAC,liquid water is placed in an airtight container with a variable volume.As the volume alternately changes,the liquid water inside the container continues to cavitate.Then,the mixture turbulence model and in-cylinder dynamic grid model are adopted to conduct computational fluid dynamics simulation of volume alternate cavitation.In the simulation,the cloud images at seven heights on the central axis are monitored,and the phenomenon and mechanism of height and eccentricity are analyzed in detail.By employing the cavitation flow visualization method,the generating mechanism and evolution law of cavitation are revealed.The synergistic effects of experiments and high-speed camera capturing confirm the correctness of the simulation results.In the experiment,the volume change stroke of the airtight container is set to 20 mm,the volume change frequency is 18 Hz,and the shooting frequency of the high-speed camera is set to 10000 FPS.The experimental results indicate that the position of the cavitation phenomenon has a reasonable law during the whole evolution cycle of the cavitation cloud.Also,the volume alternation cycle corresponds to the generation,development,and collapse stages of cavitation bubbles.

Resistance of cavitation erosion of multimodal WC-12Co coatings sprayed by HVOF

Conventional,submicron and multimodal WC-12Co cermet coatings were deposited by high velocity oxy-fuel（HVOF）.The microhardness and microstructure of the coatings were compared,and the resistance of the coatings to cavitation erosion was studied by ultrasonic vibration cavitation equipment.Cavitation pits and craters were observed by SEM and cavitation mechanisms were explored.The results show that the microstructures of submicron and multimodal WC-12Co coatings prepared by HVOF are dense with little porosity,and their microhardness values are obviously higher than that of the conventional WC-12Co coating.The average microhardness of multimodal WC-12Co coating reaches nearly HV1500,which is much higher than that of the conventional one.As well,it is found that the multimodal WC-12Co coating exhibits the best cavitation erosion resistance among the three coatings,the erosion rate is approximately 40% that of the conventional coating,and the cavitation erosion resistance of multimodal WC-12Co coating is enhanced by above 150% in comparison with the conventional coating.

Corrosion behavior of Hastelloy C22 coating produced by laser cladding in static and cavitation acid solution

The Hastelloy C22 coatings on Q235 steel substrate were produced by high power diode laser cladding technique. Their corrosion behaviors in static and cavitation hydrochloric, sulfuric and nitric acid solutions were investigated. The electrochemical results show that corrosion resistance of coatings in static acid solutions is higher than that in cavitation ones. In each case, coating corrosion resistance in descending order is in nitric, sulfuric and hydrochloric acid solutions. Obvious erosion-corrosion morphology and serious intercrystalline corrosion of coating are noticed in cavitation hydrochloric acid solution. This is mainly ascribed to the aggressive ions in hydrochloric acid solution and mechanical effect from cavitation bubbles collapse. While coating after corrosion test in cavitation nitric acid solution shows nearly unchanged surface morphology. The results indicate that the associated action of cavitation and property of acid solution determines the corrosion development of coating. Hastelloy C22 coating exhibits better corrosion resistance in oxidizing acid solution for the stable formation of dense oxide film on the surface.

Orifice plate cavitation mechanism and its influencing factors

The orifice plate energy dissipater is an economic and highly efficient dissipater. However, there is a risk of cavitaion around the orifice plate flow： In order to provide references for engineering practice, we examined the cavitation mechanism around the orifice plate and its influencing factors by utilizing mathematical analysis methods to analyze the flow conditions around the orifice plate in view of gas bubble dynamics. Through the research presented in this paper, the following can be observed： The critical radius and the critical pressure of the gas nucleus in orifice plate flow increase with its initial state parameter r0 ; the development speed of bubbles stabilizes at a certain value after experiencing a peak value and a small valley value; and the orifice plate cavitation is closely related to the distribution of the gas nucleus in flow. For computing the orifice plate cavitation number, we ought to take into account the effects of pressure fluctuation. The development time of the gas nucleus from the initial radius to the critical radius is about 107-10-5 s; therefore, the gas nucleus has sufficient time to develop into bubbles in the negative half-cycle of flow fluctuation. The orifice critical cavitation number is closely related to the orifice plate size, and especially closely related with the ratio of the orifice plate radius to the tunnel radius. The approximate formula for the critical cavitation number of the square orifice plate that only considers the main influencing factor was obtained by model experiments.

Cavitation Passive Control on Immersed Bodies

This paper introduces a new idea of controlling cavitation around a hydrofoil through a passive cavitation controller called artificial cavitation bubble generator （ACG）. Cyclic processes, namely, growth and implosion of bubbles around an immersed body, are the main reasons for the destruction and erosion of the said body. This paper aims to create a condition in which the cavitation bubbles reach a steady-state situation and prevent the occurrence of the cyclic processes. For this purpose, the ACG is placed on the surface of an immersed body, in particular, the suction surface of a 2D hydrofoil. A simulation was performed with an implicit finite volume scheme based on a SIMPLE algorithm associated with the multiphase and cavitation model. The modified k-ε RNG turbulence model equipped with a modification of the turbulent viscosity was applied to overcome the turbulence closure problem. Numerical simulation of water flow over the hydrofoil equipped with the ACG shows that a low-pressure recirculation area is produced behind the ACG and artificially generates stationary cavitation bubbles. The location, shape, and size of this ACG are the crucial parameters in creating a proper control. Results show that the cavitation bubble is controlled well with a well-designed ACG.

Breakup of Cavitation Bubbles within the Diesel Droplet

Supercavitation in the diesel nozzle increases the instability of droplets in part due to the two-phase mixture, while the effect of cavitation bubbles on the instability of drops is still unclear. In order to investigate the breakup of cavitation bubbles within the diesel droplet, a new mathematical model describing the disturbance growth rate of the diesel bubble instability is developed. The new mathematical model is applied to predict the effects of fluids viscosity on the stability of cavitation bubbles. The predicted values reveal that the comprehensive effect of fluids viscosity makes cavitation bubbles more stable. Compared with the viscosities of air and cavitation bubble, the diesel droplet＇s viscosity plays a dominant role on the stability of cavitation bubbles. Furthermore, based on the modified bubble breakup criterion, the effects of bubble growth speed, sound speed, droplet viscosity, droplet density, and bubble-droplet radius ratio on the breakup time and the breakup radius of cavitation bubbles are studied respectively. It is found that a bubble with large bubble-droplet radius ratio has the initial condition for breaking easily. For a given bubble-droplet radius ratio （0.2）, as the bubble growth speed increases （from 2 m/s to 60 m/s）, the bubble breakup time decreases（from 3.59 gs to 0.17 ps） rapidly. Both the greater diesel droplet viscosity and the greater diesel droplet density result in the increase of the breakup time. With increasing initial bubble-droplet radius ratio （from 0.2 to 0.8）, the bubble breakup radius decreases （from 8.86 trn to 6.23 tm）. There is a limited breakup radius for a bubble with a certain initial bubble-droplet radius ratio. The mathematical model and the modified bubble breakup criterion are helpful to improve the study on the breakup mechanism of the secondary diesel droplet under the condition of supercavitation.

An Analysis of the Factors Influencing Cavitation in the Cylinder Liner of a Diesel Engine

Avoiding cavitation inside the water jacket is one of the most important issues regarding the proper design of a diesel engine’s cylinder liner.Using CFD simulations conducted in the frame of a mixture multiphase approach,a moving grid technology and near-wall cavitation model,in the present study the factors and fluid-dynamic patterns that influence cavitation are investigated from both macroscopic and mesoscopic perspectives.Several factors are examined,namely:wall vibration,water jacket width,initial cavitation bubble radius,coolant temperature,and number of bubbles.The results show that reducing the cylinder liner vibration intensity can significantly weaken the cavitation.Similarly,increasing the water jacket width is instrumental in avoiding cavitation.Increasing the coolant temperature reduces the microjet velocity related to bubble collapse,while increasing the number of bubbles produces a much larger water hammer pressure that can cause more damage to the cylinder liner.

MICRO-COURSE OF CAVITATION EROSION

By cavitation tests and scanning electron microscope （SEM） microanalysis, the micro-appearance of cavitation samples is studied. It is the first time that the micro-appearance of metals is pursued successfully. According to the changing course of the micro-appearance of metals, the damaging course of cavitation erosion is determined. The destructive way of collapsing bubbles on the metal surface is known. Firstly cavitation pinholes appear on the metal surface, then cracks generate and grow under the action of collapsing bubbles. When cracks connect each other, small pieces are removed from pinhole wall and pinholes develop into cavitation pits. When the previous surface is removed completely, new pinholes are produced again on the new surface. A pinhole is the result of the powerful striking of a micro-liquid jet ejected by a large collapsed bubble near the surface. At some stages, cracks grow in the way of fatigue. The corrosion phenomenon is observed during the cavitation erosion. The cavitation pattern can be used to explain the cavitation pregnancy and the changing regulation of sample surface.