Influence of inlet pressure on cavitation characteristics in regulating valve

Abstract

The cavitation development process in regulating valve under different inlet pressures is investigated experimentally and numerically in our paper. The influence of inlet pressure P in on cavitation location, shape, area and intensity is studied in axial and radial directions, and the axial and radial pressure distributions are also analyzed. The cavitation is generally annular in shape radially and irregular polygon in shape axially. Cavitation bubbles occur at the throat entrance when the inlet pressure increases. The bubbles then accumulate, and a bubble ring is formed. The cavitation development process under different inlet pressures is separated into three stages, no-cavitation, initial cavitation and steady-cavitation stages. During the no-cavitation stage, no bubbles exist. During the initial cavitation stage, bubbles occur and the area and intensity of cavitation increase in the radial and axial directions with increasing inlet pressure. During the steady-cavitation stage, the calculation area and intensity of bubble rings reach their maximum values and then remain stable. The cavitation bubbles extend downstream, and the area of cavitation ring and cavitation intensity increase with increasing inlet pressure. A slit exists between the upper and lower parts of bubbles in the cavitation process, both parts touch each other forming a whole.