Mechanism of cavitation induced by the oscillation in a self-excited fluidic oscillator

The mechanism of cavitation induced by the oscillating jet in a self-excited fluidic oscillator is explored numerically in this work. The SST k-ω turbulence model, which has been successfully employed to analyze the flow characteristics in a fluidic oscillator and the cavitation phenomenon, is employed. The variations of the distributions of vapor volume fraction, velocity magnitude, and pressures with the movement of the oscillating jet are analyzed in detail. It is found that the generation of cavitation is driven by the kinetic energy converted from the pressure energy induced by the oscillation of the main jet. Moreover, it is found that cavitation does not occur in the chamber in the absence of both or one of the feedback channels, since in such cases either the main jet is stable or is subject only to stationary deflection. This indicates that oscillation of the main jet is essential for the occurrence of cavitation.