Abstract The phenomenon of cavitation is widely used in the chemical engineering and mineral processing industries to increase the efficiency of flotation processes. This work is devoted to numerical studies of cavitation phenomena in a flow past a solid particle under laminar and turbulent flow conditions. The particle size is varied between 10 microns and 100 microns. A CFD-based mixture model combined with the Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model was used to predict characteristics of cavitation using nondimensional numbers. The model is validated with the experimental data obtained by Brandner et al. (Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 656, 147–176) and suitable agreement is found. CFD-based simulations are conducted over a wide range of particle Reynolds numbers Re from 1 to 1800 for different particle sizes. The effects of the particle shape, the surface roughness, the number of particles, and the particle surface temperature on flow characteristics and occurrence of cavitation were investigated. The results show that particle roughness significantly increases the occurrence of cavitation. Moreover, cavitation development increases as the particle surface temperature increases from 40 ∘C to 99.9 ∘C. Finally, an empirical relation enabling the prediction of cavitation in the particular flows has been developed based on CFD results.

中文翻译：

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通过微型颗粒的空化流建模

摘要 空化现象广泛用于化学工程和选矿行业，以提高浮选过程的效率。这项工作致力于在层流和湍流条件下通过固体颗粒的流动中的空化现象的数值研究。颗粒大小在 10 微米和 100 微米之间变化。基于 CFD 的混合模型与 Schnerr-Sauer 空化模型相结合，用于使用无量纲数预测空化特征。该模型通过 Brandner 等人获得的实验数据进行了验证。(Journal of Fluid Mechanics, 656, 147–176) 找到了合适的协议。基于 CFD 的模拟是针对不同粒径的从 1 到 1800 的各种粒子雷诺数 Re 进行的。颗粒形状的影响，研究了表面粗糙度、颗粒数量和颗粒表面温度对流动特性和空化发生的影响。结果表明，颗粒粗糙度显着增加了空化的发生。此外，随着颗粒表面温度从 40 ∘C 增加到 99.9 ∘C，空化发展增加。最后，基于 CFD 结果开发了能够预测特定流动中的气穴现象的经验关系。