Numerical Study of a Vapor Bubble Collapse near a Solid Wall

Abstract

Cavitation is the reason for degradation of the performance of technical devices that involve high speed liquid flows. Detailed information on structure of cavitating liquid flow is of key importance for design of such devices. But experimental study of these flows is a severe problem due to extreme flow parameters and very small spatial and temporal scales. That is why numerical simulation became an efficient tool of investigation of the detailed flow structure. Modelling of the collapse of a bubble located in the proximity of a solid wall is of particular interest from the point of view of cavitation erosion analysis. A quasi-homogeneous model of cavitating flows is formulated based on the assumptions of mechanical and thermodynamic equilibrium between the liquid and vapor phases. Numerical investigation is carried out for the unsteady compressible flow developing in the process of single vapor bubble collapse. The proposed algorithm demonstrates adequacy and robustness.