Modeling Venturi cavitation length based on longitudinal pressure dissipation and recovery analysis
Phys. Rev. Fluids 11, 024306 – Published 17 February, 2026
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1103/ng18-wzmz
Abstract
Venturi cavitation exhibits unique scaling that deviates from power-law relationships of cavitation length of the flows around wedges or hydrofoils derived from potential-flow theory, due to its inherent longitudinal pressure gradients. This study investigates Venturi cavitation flows through controlled blowdown experiments with high-speed visualization. The nondimensional time-averaged cavitation length and pressure recovery coefficient are discussed under varying cavitation number () and Reynolds number () conditions. Four distinct cavitation patterns [supercavitation (SPR), cloud cavitation, sheet cavitation, and streak cavitation] are identified, with transitions from SPR to noncavitation as or increases, resulting in decreasing . A piecewise mapping relationship between and is established, and a combined model using short cavity (for ) and extended cavity (for ) models with logarithmic smoothing accurately predicts . This approach enables cavitation flow pattern identification and cavity length prediction based on mapping, providing a practical tool for engineering evaluation across various Venturi geometries.