Vapor bubbles arise in an orifice plate cavitation, which happens when the pressure of a fluid moving through the orifice falls below the fluid’s vapor pressure. These bubbles burst violently as they go downstream and come into contact with greater pressures, sending shock waves that might seriously harm the orifice plate and nearby pipes. Cavitation can cause material erosion, shortening the orifice plate’s lifespan and requiring regular upkeep or replacement. The present CFD study is conducted based on the reference paper “ Energy dissipation characteristics of sharp-edged orifice plate “.

Figure 1- Flow through a sharp-edged orifice plate

Simulation Process

The symmetric configuration of the orifice plate allows for using Axisymmetric method. It can beneficially decrease the computation cost. The production of a structured grid is another feature. It goes without saying that the Mixture multiphase model is needed to simulate vapor bubbles produced due to cavitation. This transmission is defined by a Mass Transfer mechanism based on the Schnerr-Sauer submodel.

Post-processing

The mass percentage of vapor indicated different places where vapor generation occurred in the cavitation simulation inside a sharply-edged orifice plate. The findings showed that cavitation mostly occurred in spots downstream of the orifice plate when the pressure drastically decreased. Vapor bubbles formed as the fluid rushed through the restricted area of the orifice and the pressure dropped below the vapor pressure. In the aftermath of the orifice, where the velocity dropped and the pressure recovered, the bubbles were shown to develop and remain until collapsing.