EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATIONS OF CAVITATION EFFECTS ON FLOW CHARACTERISTICS OF SMALL ORIFICES AND VALVES IN WATER HYDRAULICS

The flow characteristics and cavitation effects of water passing throughsmall sharp-edged cylindrical orifices and valves of different shapes in water hydraulics areinvestigated. The test results using orifices with different aspect ratios and different diametersshow that the flow coefficients in the case of non-cavitating flow are larger than that of flow inthe case of cavitation occurrence. The flow coefficients of flow with cavitation initially decreaseas Reynolds number increases and ultimately tend to be of constant values close to contractioncoefficient. Large aspect ratio has an effect of suppressing cavitation. The experimental resultsabout disc valves illustrate that the valves with sharp edge at large opening are less affected bycavitation than that at small opening. Throttle with triangle notch has better anti-cavitationability than that with square notch. The flowrate of the throttle with square notch is significantlyaffected by the flow direction or the flow passage shape.

Unsteady Flow and Structural Behaviors of Centrifugal Pump under Cavitation Conditions

Cavitation has a significant e ect on the flow fields and structural behaviors of a centrifugal pump. In this study, the unsteady flow and structural behaviors of a centrifugal pump are investigated numerically under di erent cavitation conditions. A strong two-way coupling fluid-structure interaction simulation is applied to obtain interior views of the e ects of cavitating bubbles on the flow and structural dynamics of a pump. The renormalization-group k-ε turbulence model and the Zwart–Gerbe–Belamri cavitation model are solved for the fluid side, while a transient structural dynamic analysis is employed for the structure side. The di erent cavitation states are mapped in the head-net positive suction head(H-NPSH) curves and flow field features inside the impeller are fully revealed. Results indicate that cavitating bubbles grow and expand rapidly with decreasing NPSH. In addition, the pressure fluctuations, both in the impeller and volute, are quantitatively analyzed and associated with the cavitation states. It is shown that influence of the cavitation on the flow field is critical, specifically in the super-cavitation state. The e ect of cavitation on the unsteady radial force and blade loads is also discussed. The results indicate that the averaged radial force increased from 8.5 N to 54.4 N in the transition progress from an onset cavitation state to a super-cavitation state. Furthermore, the structural behaviors, including blade deformation, stress, and natural frequencies, corresponding to the cavitation states are discussed. A large volume of cavitating bubbles weakens the fluid forces on the blade and decreases the natural frequencies of the rotor system. This study could enhance the understanding of the e ects of cavitation on pump flow and structural behaviors.

Numerical study of hydrofoil surface jet flow on cavitation suppression

Cavitation caused vibration and noise of hydraulic machinery. To some extent,cavitation made fatigue damage in advance. Many scholars found that the re-entrant jets were the reasons of the shedding of cavities. To suppress cavitation,based on the idea of blocking the re-entrant jets,a special surface flow structure of 2D hydrofoil was proposed. The through-hole was made in the proper position of the hydrofoil. The incoming flow can outflow from this jet-hole automatically depending on the pressure difference between pressure side and suction side. Re-entrant jet growth can be weakened by optimizing the jet-hole geometry. Based on the standard k-ε turbulence model and Schnerr & Sauer cavitation model,under different cavitation numbers( σ) and jet-angles( β) for NACA0066( 2D) hydrofoil with 8° angles of attack,cavitation field numerical analysis was carried out. The results show that 2D hydrofoil cavitation flow had a strong unsteadiness. Making a jet-hole at the junction between the re-entrant jet and cavity can effectively minimize cloud cavitation. For a certain cavitation condition,optimal jet-angles( β) can be obtained to control cavitation growth. For the same β,the effects of cavitation suppression were changed with different cavitation numbers( σ). Consequently,suitable jet-angle and jet-position could extend the stable operating range of the hydrofoil.

Cavitation cloud impingement and scattering motion of jet in rock breaking process

The cavitation cloud impingement of the jet in the rock breaking process was experimentally investigated to reveal the jet erosion mechanism in drilling of petroleum exploitation. Serial erosion tests and flow visualization were performed, where the cavitation cloud motion in the erosion crater was obtained with the designed transparent specimen. Various erosion patterns were identified in the whole erosion process based on the eroded specimen topography. The shallow eroded crater with a shrinking erosion area is generated by the combination of impinging and scattering cavitation clouds. The increase of l_(d) promotes the development of cavitation cloud σ_(c) but reduces the impingement frequency f_(d), suggesting that the jet aggressive ability is enhanced when the balance between σ_(c) and f_(d) is reached. The cavitation cloud motion in the erosion crater was investigated with the transparent specimen. The erosion in the crater at shorter exposure periods T_(e) is generated by the combination of impingement and restricted scattering of cavitation clouds. With the continuous development of the erosion damage, the jet's aggressive ability is diminished due to the erosion expansion on sandstone, where the cavitation clouds impinge on the target and then collapse and vanish without restricted scattering.

Numerical Simulations of Cavitation Flows around Clark-Y Hydrofoil

Cavitation is a complex flow phenomenon including unsteady characteristics, turbulence, gas-liquid two-phase flow. This paper provides a numerical investigation on comparing the simulation performance of three different models in OpenFOAM-Merkle model, Kunz model and Schnerr-Sauer model, which is helpful for understanding the cavitation flow. Considering the influence of vapor-liquid mixing density on turbulent viscous coefficient, the modified SST k-ω model is adopted in this paper to increase the computing reliability. The InterPhaseChangeFoam solver is utilized to simulate the two-dimensional cavitation flow of the Clark-Y hydrofoil with three cavitation models. The hydrodynamic performance including lift coefficient, drag coefficient and cavitation flow shape of the hydrofoil is analyzed. Through the comparison of the numerical results and experimental data, it is found that the Schnerr-Sauer model can get the most accurate results among the three models. And from the simulation point of water and water vapor mixing, the Merkle model has the best water and water vapor mixing simulation.

Flow and cavitation characteristics of water hydraulic poppet valves

Two types of poppet valves were tested, one is a poppet with a sharp-edged seats, and the other is that with a chamfered seat. During the tests, the effects of backpressure and poppet lift on flow characteristics were considered. Cavitation inception was detected by the appearance and rapid growth of a particular low frequency component of the outlet pressure fluctuation of valve when cavitation occurs. Experimental results show cavitation, back pressure, valve opening and its geometrical shape have significant effects on the flow characteristics of valve. The flow coefficient of throttle with water used as working medium is 0 85～0 95 when there is no cavitation. The pressure drop of flow saturation decreases with the increasing of poppet lift. The sharp-edged throttle has stronger anti-cavitation ability than the chamfered one.

Unsteady Cavitation Analysis Using Phase Averaging and Conditional Approaches in a 2D Venturi Flow

The present study refers to a cavitating Venturi type section geometry characterized by a convergent angle of 18°?and a divergent angle of about 8°?where the sheet cavity presents typical self-oscillation behavior with quasi-periodic vapor clouds shedding. This work is an extension of previous works concerning void ratio measurements and velocity fields using double optical probe and constitutes a complete analysis of the two-phase structure of unsteady cavitating flow. This paper provides a new method based on conditional and phase averaging technique with wall pressure signal to treat experimental data in order to evaluate more precisely time-averaged and rms values of the void ratio and instantaneous velocity fields. Conditional analysis shows a different behavior of the two-phase flow dynamics leading to highlight high void ratio events linked to the break-off cycle. Unsteady phase averaging of the optical probe signal gives the evolution of the void ratio at each studied location in the venturi and shows that the fluctuations close to the wall (where the re-entrant jet is predominant) are in phase with the upper part of the cavity instead of the thickness of the cavity which is unchanged.

Numerical Study on the Unsteady Characteristics of the Propeller Cavitation in Uniform and Nonuniform Wake Flows

Propeller cavitation is a problematic issue because of its negative effects, such as performances losses, noise,vibration and erosion. Numerical methodology is an effective and efficient technical tool for the study of propeller cavitation, however, it is hard to capture tip-vortex cavitation in the previous work by using common turbulence models based on turbulent-viscosity hypothesis. In this work, the Reynolds-Averaged Naiver-Stokes(RANS)approach, adopting the Reynolds stress turbulence model(RSM), is taken to study the unsteady characteristics of the cavitation on the four-bladed INSEAN E779 A model propeller. The numerical simulation was carried out using the commercial CFD software ANSYS Fluent 14.0. One kind of uniform wake flow and two kinds of nonuniform wake flows are considered here. The results in the uniform flow show a good agreement with previous experimental results on both the sheet cavitation and the tip vortex cavitation and prove the ability of the RSM on capturing the tip vortex cavitation. Two kinds of nonuniform wake flows are designed based on the previous experimental researches and the unsteady characteristics of the propeller cavitation are analyzed by comparing the results in the uniform and two nonuniform wake flows together.

Effects of silt particle on cavitation flow in centrifugal pump

Based on numerical method, effects of silt particle with certain silt mean diameter and silt concentration on the evolution of cavitation in a centrifugal pump were studied. Silt mean diameter 0.005 mm and silt concentration 1.0% were adopted in numerical simulations. Cavitation flow in a flat- nosed cylinder was simulated to validate the designed algorithm. Cavitaton flows of water and silt-laden water were simulated and compared. The results indicate that the silt particles promote the evolution of cavitation. At the outlet pressure of 6.0×10^5 Pa, cavitation bubbles do not exist in the water flow, but a few cavitation bubbles appeare in the silt-laden water flow, demonstrating the silt particles induce the formation of cavitation bubbles. At the outlet pressure of 5.29×10^5 Pa, the vapor volume fraction in the silt-laden water flow is much larger than that in the water flow, indicating that the silt particles enhance the evolution of cavitation. The properties of silt particle, static pressure, flow field structure, turbulent kinetic energy and density difference have a close relationship with the evolution of cavitation.

Cavitation Inception in Turbulent Flows Around a Hydrofoil

The phenomenon of cavitation inception around a hydrofoil is studied experimentally. The flow velocities around the foil are measured by a laser doppler velocimetry （LDV）. The inception cavitation aspects are observed by using a high-speed video camera. In the experiment, the Reynolds number is fixed at a value of 7.0 × 10^5. The boundary layer around the foil undergoes turbulent flow under the experiment condition. The LDV measurement results show that the flow in the boundary layer around the foil doesn＇t separate from the surface. It is found that the cavitation inception in non-separated turbulent flow is related to the coherent structures in the boundary layer. It is clear that the turbulent bursting and the hairpin-shaped vortex structure accompany the incipient cavitation.

Influence of Cavitation on Unsteady Vortical Flows in a Side Channel Pump

Previous investigation on side channel pump mainly concentrates on parameter optimization and internal unsteady vortical flows.However,cavitation is prone to occur in a side channel pump,which is a challenging issue in promoting performance.In the present study,the cavitating flow is investigated numerically by the turbulence model of SAS combined with the Zwart cavitation model.The vapors inside the side channel pump firstly occur in the impeller passage near the inlet and then spread gradually to the downstream passages with the decrease of NPSHa.Moreover,a strong adverse pressure gradient is presented at the end of the cavity closure region,which leads to cavity shedding from the wall.The small scaled vortices in each passage reduce significantly and gather into larger vortices due to the cavitation.Comparing the three terms of vorticity transport equation with the vapor volume fraction and vorticity distributions,it is found that the stretching term is dominant and responsible for the vorticity production and evolution in cavitating flows.In addition,the magnitudes of the stretching term decrease once the cavitation occurs,while the values of dilatation are high in the cavity region and increase with the decreasing NPSHa.Even though the magnitude of the baroclinic torque term is smaller than vortex stretching and dilatation terms,it is important for the vorticity production along the cavity surface and near the cavity closure region.The pressure fluctuations in the impeller and side channel tend to be stronger due to the cavitation.The primary frequency of monitor points in the impeller is 24.94 Hz and in the side channel is 598.05 Hz.They are quite corresponding to the shaft frequency of 25 Hz(fshaft=1/n=25 Hz)and the blade frequency of 600 Hz(fblade=Z/n=600 Hz)respectively.This study complements the investigation on cavitation in the side channel pump,which could provide the theoretical foundation for further optimization of performance.

Detached-eddy Simulation for Time-dependent Turbulent Cavitating Flows

The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes（RANS）,such as the original k-ω two-equation closures,have been very popular in providing good prediction for a wide variety of flows with presently available computational resource.But for cavitating flows,the above equations noticeably over-predict turbulent production and hence effective viscosity.In this paper,the detached eddy simulation（DES） method for time-dependent turbulent cavitating flows is investigated.To assess the state-of-the-art of computational capabilities,different turbulence models including the widely used RANS model and DES model are conducted.Firstly,in order to investigate the grid dependency in computations,different grid sizes are adopted in the computation.Furthermore,the credibility of DES model is supported by the unsteady cavitating flows over a 2D hydrofoil.The results show that the DES model can effectively reduce the eddy viscosities.From the experimental validations regarding the force analysis,frequency and the unsteady cavity visualizations,more favorable agreement with experimental visualizations and measurements are obtained by DES model.DES model is better able to capture unsteady phenomena including cavity length and the resulting hydrodynamic characteristics,reproduces the time-averaged velocity quantitatively around the hydrofoil,and yields more acceptable and unsteady dynamics features.The DES model has shown to be effective in improving the overall predictive capability of unsteady cavitating flows.

SUPPRESSION OF A CAVITATION NEAR THE ORIFICE OF A RELIEF VALVE

The aim of this study is to suppress a cavitation near the orifice of arelief valve by changing the shape of a poppet. An experimental flow visualization technique and anumerical cavitating flow simulation, using a RNG kappa-epsilon turbulence model and a cavitationmodel, are employed to achieve the purpose. In the flow visualization, the cavitation phenomenonnear the orifice of a relief valve is observed using a transparent test valve body model and acamera. On the other hand, a three dimensional cavitating flow simulation is conducted to predictthe cavitation near the orifice of a relief valve. Six types of poppets are designed by changing theshape of a traditional poppet shape, which is expected to influence the cavitating flow in anorifice. In addition, the cavitation noise of a relief valve is measured and the noise spectrum isanalyzed. In conclusion, the cavitation intensity and the cavitation noise are reduced for anoptimal poppet geometry obtained in the present study.

Multiphase fluid dynamics and transport processes of low capillary number cavitating flows

To better understand the multiphase fluid dynamics and associated transport processes of cavitating flows at the capillary number of 0.74 and 0.54, and to validate the numerical results, a combined computational and experimental investigation of flows around a hydrofoil is studied based on flow visualizations and time-resolved interface movement. The computational model is based on a modified RNG k-ε model as turbulence closure, along with a vapor-liquid mass transfer model for treating the cavitation process. Overall, favorable agreement between the numerical and experimental results is observed. It is shown that the cavi- tation structure depends on the interaction of the water-vapor mixture and the vapor among the whole cavitation stage, the interface between the vapor and the two-phase mixture exhibits substantial unsteadiness. And, the adverse motion of the interface relates to pressure and velocity fluctuations inside the cavity. In particular, the velocity in the vapor region is lower than that in the two-phase region.

Numerical investigation of cavitating flow behind the cone of a poppet valve in water hydraulic system

Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of cavitating flow through water hydraulic poppet valves were performed using advanced RNG k-epsilon turbulence model. The flow was turbulent, incompressible and unsteady, for Reynolds numbers greater than 43 000. The working fluid was water, and the structure of the valve was simplified as a two dimensional axisymmetric geometrical model. Flow field visualization was numerically achieved. The effects of inlet velocity, outlet pressure, opening size as well as poppet angle on cavitation intensity in the poppet valve were numerically investigated. Experimental flow visualization was conducted to capture cavitation images near the orifice in the poppet valve with 30° poppet angle using high speed video camera. The binary cavitating flow field distribution obtained from digital processing of the original cavitation image showed a good agreement with the numerical result.

Simulation of Cavitating Flow around a 2-D Hydrofoil

In order to predict the effects of cavitation on a hydrofoil, the state equations of the cavitation model were combined with a linear viscous turbulent method for mixed fluids in the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software FLUENT to simulate steady cavitating flow. At a fixed attack angle, pressure distributions and volume fractions of vapor at different cavitation numbers were simulated, and the results on foil sections agreed well with experimental data. In addition, at the various cavitation numbers, the vapor fractions at different attack angles were also predicted. The vapor region moved towards the front of the airfoil and the length of the cavity grew with increased attack angle. The results show that this method of applying FLUENT to simulate cavitation is reliable.

APPLICATION OF IMAGE MANIPULATION FOR CAVITATION ANALYZING

A new method ,which is called image manipulation, is introduced to analyze the cavitation of flow field for the first time. As the complexity of the cavitation development must be considering, only the method of image manipulation can calculate the strength of the cavitation more accurately. This method based on wavelet transform is used to eliminate the noise. The area of the cavitations is deduced to serve as the strength of cavitation. The method is applied in an example of inducer's rotating cavitation. The results show that using image manipulation can get the accurate date of cavitation with ease,and the reason of the inducer shaft's vibration is uncovered clearly.

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.

Theoretical analysis of effect of solid phase on cavitation performance of deep-sea mining pump

In view of the present situation of low cavitation performance of deep-sea mining slurry pump, the effect of solid phase on the cavitation performance of deep-sea mining pump is analyzed theoretically. The relationship between gas and liquid phases are established by cavitation nucleon theory and mass energy equation as well as solid phase and liquid phase, and then we explored the relationship between gas phase and solid phase. The results show that the critical bubble radius and solid-phase concentration flow rate during the cavitation can be related to the liquid pressure. Eq.(19) show that the larger the solid particle concentration and the solid phase flow, the earlier the cavitation will occur, and pump anti-cavitation performance will decline.

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.