Cavitation is the transition from a liquid to a vapour phase, due to a drop in pressure to the level of the vapour tension of the fluid. Two kinds of cavitation have been reviewed here: acoustic cavitation and hydrodynamic cavitation. As acoustic cavitation in engineering systems is related to the propagation of waves through a region subjected to liquid vaporization, the available expressions of the sound speed are discussed. One of the main effects of hydrodynamic cavitation in the nozzles and orifices of hydraulic power systems is a reduction in flow permeability. Different discharge coefficient formulae are analysed in this paper: the Reynolds number and the cavitation number result to be the key fluid dynamical parameters for liquid and cavitating flows, respectively. The latest advances in the characterization of different cavitation regimes in a nozzle, as the cavitation number reduces, are presented. The physical cause of choked flows is explained, and an analogy between cavitation and supersonic aerodynamic flows is proposed. The main approaches to cavitation modelling in hydraulic power systems are also reviewed: these are divided into homogeneous-mixture and two-phase models. The homogeneous-mixture models are further subdivided into barotropic and baroclinic models. The advantages and disadvantages of an implementation of the complete Rayleigh–Plesset equation are examined.

The physical origin of injector coking in diesel engines has been clarified and the most critical design parameters and operating variables pertaining to the occurrence of the phenomenon have been identified. Fouling has been shown to be affected by many factors, such as injector temperature, nozzle configuration, hole diameter and conicity as well as fuel composition. Optical and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analyses have been conducted both inside and outside injectors of different type and four locations have been identified as the main deposition sites. Furthermore, different coking typologies, i.e., dry and wet coking, have been assessed and discussed. Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy images of the deposits on the spray hole walls have revealed that minute quantities of Zn catalyze the coking reactions to a great extent. Significant quantities of Zn have also been found in the injector deposits. An extensive experimental test campaign has been carried out at the engine test bench with different nozzle setups in order to evaluate performance deterioration after different ageing procedures. The effects of both the Zn concentration in the fuel and running time have been assessed separately on the fouling rate. Injection rate time histories have been acquired at the hydraulic test rig, under different working conditions, for both new and aged injectors. The experimental changes in the EVI profiles subsequent to fouling have been analyzed and related to the corresponding variations in engine power measured at the engine test bench. A previously developed combustion multi-zone diagnostic model has also been applied to gain a further insight into the cause and effect relationships between the experimental in-cylinder pressure time histories and engine-out emissions.

New analytical solutions for the one-dimensional steady-state compressible viscous adiabatic flow of an ideal gas through a conical nozzle or diffuser have been obtained. In order to analytically solve the problem, it is essential to determine the correct transformations of the variables and to identify the kinetic energy per unit of mass as the physical variable that appears in the final Abel ordinary differential equation. A dimensionless representation is given of the new solution, which points out the fundamental role exerted by some dimensionless groups in problems where viscous power dissipation and variable flow areas are present simultaneously as driving factors of flow changes. Furthermore, a steady-state fluid dynamics analysis of the compressible viscous flows in conical nozzles and diffusers has been carried out to improve the physical interpretation of the solutions. Finally, the thus determined analytical solutions have been validated for both subsonic and supersonic flows through a comparison with numerical solutions pertaining to the same ordinary differential equation. However, when the exact solution includes shocks, the time-asymptotic numerical solutions of the Euler equations for the quasi-one-dimensional unsteady-state gas dynamics are used for validation and the discretisation is performed by applying a finite volume technique. The proposed analytical solutions are complementary to the Fanno and nozzle models that refer to a viscous adiabatic constant cross-section pipe flow and an inviscid adiabatic variable cross-section pipe flow, respectively, and extend the collection of the exact solutions of gas dynamics.

A general conservative numerical model for the simulation of transmission-line unsteady fluid dynamics has been developed and applied to high-pressure injection systems. A comprehensive thermodynamic approach for modeling acoustic cavitation, i.e., cavitation induced by wave propagation, was proposed on the basis of a conservative homogeneous two-phase barotropic flow model of a pure liquid, its vapor, and a gas, both dissolved and undissolved. A physically consistent sound speed equation was set in a closed analytical form of wide application. For the pure-liquid flow simulation outside the cavitation regions, or in the absence of these, temperature variations due to compressibility effects were taken into account, for the first time in injection system simulation, through a thermodynamic relation derived from the energy equation. Nevertheless, in the cavitating regions, an isothermal flow was retained consistently with negligible macroscopic thermal effects due to vaporization or condensation, because of the tiny amounts of liquid involved. A novel implicit, conservative, one-step, symmetrical, and trapezoidal scheme of second-order accuracy was employed to solve the partial differential equations governing the pipe flow. It can also be enhanced at a high-resolution level. The numerical model was applied to wave propagation and cavitation simulation in a high-pressure injection system of the pump-line-nozzle type for light and medium duty vehicles. The system was relevant to model assessment because, at part loads, it presented cavitating flow conditions that can be considered as severe, at least for a diesel injection system. The predicted time histories of pressure at two pipe locations and of injector needle lift were compared to experimental results, substantiating the validity and robustness of the developed conservative model in simulating acoustic cavitation inception and desinence with great accuracy degree. Cavitation transients and the flow discontinuities induced by them were numerically predicted and analyzed.