Investigation of Pressure Oscillation and Cavitation Characteristics for Submerged Self-Resonating Waterjet

Abstract

The cavitation phenomenon of the self-resonating waterjet for the modulation of erosion characteristics is investigated in this paper. A three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed to analyze the unsteady characteristics of the self-resonating jet. The numerical model employs the mixture two-phase model, coupling the realizable turbulence model and Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model. Collected data from experimental tests were used to validate the model. Results of numerical simulations and experimental data frequency bands obtained by the Fast Fourier transform (FFT) method were in very good agreement. For better understanding the physical phenomena, the velocity, the pressure distributions, and the cavitation characteristics were investigated. The obtained results show that the sudden change of the flow velocity at the outlet of the nozzle leads to the forms of the low-pressure zone. When the pressure at the low-pressure zone is lower than the vapor pressure, the cavitation occurs. The flow field structure of the waterjet can be directly perceived through simulation, which can provide theoretical support for realizing the modulation of the erosion characteristics, optimizing nozzle structure.