One-way and two-way coupled simulations of cavitation inception in turbulent shear flows with polydisperse bubbles

Natural nuclei in oceans and cavitation tunnels exhibit a broad size distribution, with radii ranging from 10 to 200 μm. The behavior of polydisperse bubbles during cavitation inception in turbulent shear flows is numerically investigated using a fully compressible flow solver. An ensemble phase-averaged multiphase flow model (Zhang & Prosperetti, 1994), along with the Keller-Miksis equation (Keller & Miksis, 1980), is employed to simulate the evolution of a turbulent mixing layer seeded with polydisperse bubbles. A preliminary one-way coupled simulation for Re = 50 (based on shear layer thickness) and Cavitation number, Ca = 1, indicates a preferential expansion of bubbles with equilibrium radii between 100 and 400 μm. Smaller and larger bubbles exhibit suppressed growth, primarily due to surface tension and inertial effects. Additionally, comparisons between one-way and two-way coupled simulations provide deeper insights into the influence of bubble dynamics on the underlying turbulent shear flows.