Negative capillary-pressure-induced cavitation probability in nanochannels

The capillarity-induced negative pressure of water flow has been investigated in nanochannels of a rectangular cross section by using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. As a consequent effect of negative pressure, the cavitation probability has been analyzed numerically. The numerical relation between the critical radius of cavitation (R_c) and geometrical characteristics of channels shows that cavitation does not occur in channels of uniform cross section (UCS), since 2R_c is larger than the smallest dimension of the channel. However, it may occur in channels of non-uniform cross section (NUCS), except for planar or high aspect ratio channels. The inequality in height and width is favorable for the absence of cavitation. The findings can also be applied to channels of elliptical or circular cross section. The results show the influence of geometrical characteristics of channels on the cavitation probability, which is important to engineer the channel geometrical structure in order to avoid undesirable filling problem 'cavitation' during the flow process.