Open Access

ARTICLE

Numerical Investigation of the Interaction between Cavitation and Air Bubbles in a Tube

Shiyu Liu¹, Bingqi Wang¹, Jiangshan Jin^2,*, Jia Liu², Deyu Wang², Pu Cui^1,3,*

1 Sanya Nanhai Innovation and Development Base of Harbin Engineering University, Sanya, China
2 National Key Laboratory of Marine Engine Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
3 College of Shipbuilding Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, China

* Corresponding Authors: Jiangshan Jin. Email: ; Pu Cui. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Modeling and Applications of Bubble and Droplet in Engineering and Sciences)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2026, 148(2), 17 https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2026.087824

Received 23 June 2026; Accepted 07 August 2026; Issue published 28 August 2026

Abstract

The interaction between a cavitation bubble and an air bubble inside a rigid tube is numerically investigated using a compressible volume-of-fluid (VoF) method. Two dimensionless parameters are introduced: the spacing ratio $\gamma$ and the size ratio $\eta$. The simulation results show that the spherical pressure wave generated by the expansion of the cavitation bubble propagates outward and reflects at both the tube wall and the air-liquid interface, creating a complex local pressure field. Based on the jet morphology, three typical regimes are identified, namely reverse jets, opposed jets, and co-directional jets; a phase diagram is constructed to delineate the transition patterns among these regimes in the $(\gamma ,\eta )$ parameter space. The jet direction is primarily influenced by two driving effects, i.e., the pressure impulse and the fluid-flow driving effect. This study contributes to a deeper understanding of cavitation-air bubble interaction under wall confinement and may offer useful insights for flow control in microfluidic and other confined liquid systems.

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Keywords

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