Numerical Analysis of Contraction Geometry Effects on Cavitation Choking in a Piping System

Abstract

There is a contraction portion in the water supply pipe line system, and cavitation may occur in the contraction when the flow velocity is increased. Such a situation occurs widely in the throat of the fluid machineries and in the vicinity of the valve body of the valve. In operation of the valve, it is well known that a phenomenon occurs in which the flow rate does not increase even if the static pressure difference upstream and downstream of the valve is increased due to the growth of cavitation in the contraction, which is well known as choking . It is not clear what phenomena occurs when cavitation surge occurs in the pipe system in the situation where choking is occurring in the contraction. In this study, cavitation CFD was performed on pipes those have three different geometry contractions. It was revealed that choking occurred when cavitation occurred in any shape. Also, in the case with the sharp contraction part and the sudden expansion, the flow fluctuation at the upstream of the contraction is much weaker than that at the downstream, but in the contraction with the bent part where the centrifugal force acts on the flow, the flow fluctuation at the upstream was found to be strong.