Numerical assessment of cavitation-induced erosion using a multi-scale Euler-Lagrange method

A multi-scale Euler-Lagrange method was developed and applied to numerically assess cavitation-induced erosion based on the collapse dynamics of Lagrangian bubbles. This approach linked macroscopic and microscopic scales and captured large vapour volumes on an Eulerian frame, while small vapour volumes were treated as spherical Lagrangian bubbles. Interactions between vapour bubbles and the liquid phase were considered via a two-way coupling scheme. A verification and sensitivity study of the developed procedure to transform vapour volumes between Eulerian and Lagrangian frames was performed. First, the developed method was validated for bubble dynamics, using analytical and experimental data. Second, the cavitating flow through an axisymmetric nozzle was simulated using a measurement-based distribution of cavitation nuclei. Details of single bubble collapses were used to assess cavitation erosion. Based on well-recognised fundamental experiments and theoretical considerations from the literature, model assumptions were derived to account for the effects of a bubble's stand-off distance on the bubble's motion and its radiated pressure during an asymmetric near-wall bubble collapse. Computed maximum collapse radii of bubbles correlated well with diameters of measured erosion pits. Considering a nonlinear dependence of erosion on impact pressure, calculated erosion potentials compared well to measured erosion depths.