Numerical study of cavitation bubble dynamics in a flowing tube

Abstract

Cavitation in tubes is a common occurrence in nature and engineering applications. Previous studies of cavitation bubble dynamics mainly consider bubbles in stagnant-water tubes, but the dynamics of cavitation bubbles in tubes with flow is not clear. This study investigates the dynamics of cavitation bubbles in tubes with flow by numerical simulations. The results show that, unlike bubbles in stagnant-water tubes, bubbles under the combined effects of water inflow and tube wall confinement exhibit asymmetric behavior along the axis of the tube. The inflow suppresses the development of the bubble interface near the tube inlet, causing that side of the interface to move with the inflow. In contrast, the expansion and contraction of the bubble and the generation of liquid jets occur on the side near the outlet. This feature results in significant asymmetry in the bubble interface; therefore, we introduce a skewness parameter to characterize the difference in length between the left and right parts of the bubble during the bubble evolution. The evolution of the bubble significantly affects the mass flow rate at the outlet of the tube, and even leads to backflow during the bubble contraction process.