A numerical investigation of unsteady bubbly cavitating nozzle flows

The effects of unsteady bubble dynamics on cavitating flow through a converging-diverging nozzle are investigated numerically. A continuum model that couples the Rayleigh-Plesset equation with the continuity and momentum equations is used to formulate unsteady, quasi-one-dimensional partial differential equations. These equations are solved numerically using a Lagrangian finite volume method. Special formulations are used at the boundary cells to allow Eulerian boundary conditions to be specified. Flow regimes studied include those where steady state solutions exist, and those where steady state solutions diverge at the so-called flashing instability. These latter flows consist of unsteady bubbly shock waves travelling downstream in the diverging section of the nozzle. The computations show reasonable agreement with an experiment that measures the spatial variation of pressure, velocity and void fraction for steady shockfree flows, and good agreement with an experiment that measures the shock position and throat pressure for flows with bubbly shocks.