Effect of Nozzle Outlet Shape on Cavitation Behavior of Submerged High-Pressure Jet

A submerged high-pressure water jet is usually accompanied by severe cavitation phenomenon. An organ pipe nozzle can greatly improve the cavitation performance of the jet, making use of the self-excited oscillation of the flow. In order to study the effect of organ pipe nozzles of different nozzle outlet shapes on cavitation behavior of submerged high-pressure jet, in this paper we build a high-pressure cavitation jet experiment system and carried out a high-speed photography experiment to study cavitation cloud characteristics of a high-pressure submerged jet. Two organ pipe nozzles with and without a whistle were compared. The dynamic characteristics of the cavitation cloud was extracted through the POD method, it was found that the result effectively reflect the dynamic characteristics of the cavitation jet. The reconstruction coefficients of mode-1 obtained by the POD can better reflect the periodic time-frequency characteristics of cavitation development. The effect of the nozzle outlet shape on the cavitation behavior of organ pipe nozzle was analyzed based on unsteady numerical simulation, and it was found that the jet generated by the nozzle with a divergent whistle had a larger vorticity in the shear layer near the outlet. Further, stronger small-scale vortex and much severe cavitation occurred from the nozzle with a divergent whistle.

Evaluation and Validation of Viscous Oil Cavitation Model Used in Torque Converter

Hydraulic torque converter is widely used in transmission units as it is able to provide variable speed and torque ratio, isolate vibration, and absorb shock. The pursuit of a highly packed power unit requires a high capacity/speed torque converter, consequently resulting in a higher risk for cavitation and severe performance degradation, noise, vibration, and even failure. Existing cavitation models generally focus on water, and the empirical parameters are not suitable for the cavitation prediction of torque converter which utilizes high viscosity oil as its working medium. This paper focused on the influence of parameters on the performance and cavitation characteristics of torque converter. A full flow passage geometry and different computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models with cavitation were developed to predict torque converter fluid behavior by resolving Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes equations using finite volume method (FVM). The numerical results indicated that nuclei volume fraction, vaporization coefficient, mean nucleation site radius, and maximum density ratio have great influences on the cavitation behavior. These parameters altered the degree of cavitation and the pressure distribution on the surface of stator blades, and affected the stall performance such as stall capacity factor and torque ratio. The cavitation model was then modified to improve calculation accuracy. The test results showed that the prediction error under stall operating condition was decreased from 6.7% to 2%. This study provides insight on the influences of the empirical parameters on both internal cavitation behavior as well as overall hydrodynamic performance.

Observation of cavitation governing fracture in glasses

Crack propagation is the major vehicle for material failure, but the mechanisms by which cracks propagate remain longstanding riddles, especially for glassy materials with a long-range disordered atomic structure. Recently, cavitation was proposed as an underlying mechanism governing the fracture of glasses, but experimental determination of the cavitation behavior of fracture is still lacking. Here, we present unambiguous experimental evidence to firmly establish the cavitation mechanism in the fracture of glasses. We show that crack propagation in various glasses is dominated by the self-organized nucleation, growth, and coalescence of nanocavities, eventually resulting in the nanopatterns on the fracture surfaces. The revealed cavitation-induced nanostructured fracture morphologies thus confirm the presence of nanoscale ductility in the fracture of nominally brittle glasses, which has been debated for decades. Our observations would aid a fundamental understanding of the failure of disordered systems and have implications for designing tougher glasses with excellent ductility.

The Cavitation Resistance of WC-CoCr Cermet Coating Deposited by HVOF for Hydraulic Application

Thermal spray is a versatile technique for enhancing the cavitation resistance of hydraulic water passage components, especially in on-site repair situation. Based on the application in hydraulic components, a WCCoCr cermet coating was deposited by high velocity oxygen fuel spraying. The microstructure and hardness were characterized, and the cavitation was studied by ultrasonic vibratory system according to ASTM G32 standard. The coating shows superior anti-cavitation behavior in term of mass weight loss compared with the martensite stainless steel. The cavitation erosion mechanism is elaborated with wrinkles and craters observed on the worn surfaces, and correlated with the incubation and accelerating stages.