Cavitating Flow Dynamics and Numerical Modeling

Cavitating flows arise when local pressure in a liquid falls below its vapour pressure, leading to the formation, growth and collapse of vapour cavities. These phenomena occur in a wide range of applications from marine propellers and hydrofoils to industrial reactors and medical devices. The dynamics of cavitation span several regimes, from steady sheet cavities attached to solid boundaries to unsteady cloud cavitation characterised by periodic shedding and complex bubble interactions. Collapse events generate high-pressure microjets and shock waves, which can induce surface erosion, noise and vibration or, conversely, be harnessed for cleaning, peening and process intensification. Numerical modelling of cavitating flows typically couples multiphase Navier–Stokes solvers with transport-equation-based mass transfer models or hybrid Euler–Lagrange schemes. Steady and unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (RANS) approaches capture mean flow features and overall cavity extent, while scale-resolving methods such as large-eddy simulation (LES) and bubble-tracking techniques enable detailed prediction of bubble collapse dynamics and interaction with structures. Calibration of mass transfer source terms and accurate representation of interfacial physics are crucial to predicting cavity inception, growth rates and collapse pressures. Advances in high-performance computing and interface-capturing techniques continue to enhance fidelity, allowing global optimisation of cavitation performance in engineering systems and mitigation of detrimental effects.

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Cavitating Flow Dynamics and Numerical Modeling publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in cavitating flow dynamics and numerical modeling across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Cavitation number (σ): A non-dimensional quantity expressing the ratio of local pressure drop to dynamic pressure, used to predict onset of vapour formation.

Sheet cavitation: A continuous cavity attached to a solid surface, typically stable at moderate cavitation numbers.

Cloud cavitation: An unsteady ensemble of bubbles and cavity fragments that periodically detach and collapse downstream of the attachment point.

Re-entrant jet: A backward-flowing liquid jet that penetrates beneath a growing sheet cavity, initiating cloud shedding.

Euler–Lagrange method: A hybrid numerical approach in which large vapour regions are modelled on a fixed grid (Eulerian) and individual bubbles are tracked as discrete particles (Lagrangian).

Mass transfer model: A set of equations describing vapourisation and condensation source terms for void fraction transport in multiphase solvers.

References

1. Combined suppression effects on hydrodynamic cavitation performance in Venturi-type reactor for process intensification. Ultrasonics Sonochemistry (2022).
2. Numerical assessment of cavitation-induced erosion using a multi-scale Euler–Lagrange method. Journal of Fluid Mechanics (2020).
3. Cavitating Jet: A Review. Applied Sciences (2020).