Flow dynamics and impact efficacy of cavitation water jets under plane and curved targets

Cavitation water jet technology has been applied in diverse fields such as petroleum drilling, mining engineering, chemical reaction intensification, and environmental remediation. However, the influence of curved target surfaces on the growth, morphology, and collapse of cavitation clouds remains unclear. To investigate the flow characteristics and impact performance of cavitation water jet impinging on plane and curved targets, a numerical model was established based on the large eddy simulation (LES) approach. The effects of target geometry (plane vs curved) and standoff distance on vorticity evolution, velocity field distribution, pressure distribution, and bubble volume fraction were analyzed. Both transient and time-averaged simulations revealed the intrinsic mechanisms of jet spreading, turbulence evolution, and cavitation dynamics. Curved targets induced more complex peripheral vortex diffusion and backflow. Pressure measurements were employed to evaluate the impact performance of cavitation jets under different targets. The influence of inlet pressure on cavitation behavior was further examined; increasing the inlet pressure markedly enhanced cavitation intensity and prolonged the cavitation cloud shedding period. Cavitation erosion experiments were conducted. Compared with plane impacts, the cavitation ring under the curved target exhibits a reduced diffusion range along the curvature direction and an increased diffusion range along the horizontal direction, resulting in stronger cavitation erosion effect in the horizontal direction. The findings of this study provide a theoretical foundation and experimental validation for the optimization of device design involving cavitation jet impinging on plane and curved targets.