Lattice Boltzmann Simulation of Cavitating Flows

Abstract

The onset of cavitating conditions inside the nozzle of liquid injectors is known to play a major role on spray characteristics, especially on jet penetration and break-up. In this work, we present a Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) based on the Lattice Boltzmann Method (LBM) to study the fluid dynamic field inside the nozzle of a cavitating injector. The formation of the cavitating region is determined via a multi-phase approach based on the Shan-Chen equation of state. The results obtained by the LBM simulation show satisfactory agreement with both numerical and experimental data. In addition, numerical evidence of bubble break-up, following upon flow-induced cavitation, is also reported.