Characterization of cavitation during the closing of mechanical (heart) valves
This PhD project is part of a Marie Slodowska-Curie Actions project CaFE. CaFE (Development and experimental validation of computational models for CAvitating Flows, surface Erosion damage and material loss), is a unique international collaborative research consortium based on excellence involving trans-industries located in Netherlands, the UK and Austria.
CaFE aims to provide new experimental data and an open-source simulation tool for hydrodynamic cavitation and induced erosion. Insight into the detailed bubble collapse mechanism leading to surface erosion will be realized through DNS simulations, which are now feasible by the significant progress in fluid flow computational methods and parallel simulations. Information from such models will be implemented as sub-grid scale models of URANS and LES approaches, typically employed for cavitation simulation at engineering scales. Model validation will be performed against new advanced X-ray, laser diagnostics and high-speed image measurements to be performed as part of the project.