[OpenFOAM]Cavitation in Elbow

Cavitation is a critical phenomenon in fluid systems, occurring when local pressure drops below the vapor pressure and leads to vapor bubble formation and collapse. In piping components such as elbows, cavitation can cause severe erosion, vibration, and performance loss, making its prediction and analysis important for safe design.

In this project, interPhaseChangeFoam in OpenFOAM was employed to simulate cavitation in a pipe elbow with water and water vapor as working fluids.

The solver captures phase change (at the end of the video) at the low-pressure region immediately downstream of the bend, with vapor pockets forming and extending along the flow direction. This behavior is consistent with expected cavitation dynamics in elbow sections, where flow acceleration and pressure reduction promote vaporization.