Experiments of cavitating flow in model control valve

The experimental investigation on the cavitating flow structure in the control valve at different valve openings is conducted. The model valve and visualization test section are designed to obtain the cavitating flow characteristics. The cavitation both occurs on the top of valve spool and the entrance of valve seat at the given incoming flow. In addition, the processes of cavitation inception, grow, full development, shedding and collapse is observed in the downstream region of valve spool. The results also showed that the valve opening has an important influence on the intensity and structure of cavitation flow. The decrease of valve opening will enhance the cavitation intensity, prolong the periodic time and increase the instability of cavitation flow. Therefore, the flow separation and bubble divergence of cavitation cloud both occur at the valve opening of 40% and 50%.