Written by Praveen Kumar
Wednesday, October 08, 2025
Cavitation Risk Assessment in Valves Using CFD Simulations
By
Praveen Kumar
Cavitation is one of the most challenging issues in control valves - a hidden cost that can lead to noise, vibration, material damage, and shortened service life. When vapor bubbles collapse downstream of the valve, they release destructive microjets and shockwaves that erode surfaces and compromise performance. The risk is especially high in severe service conditions, characterized by large pressure drops.
Cavitation Risk Assessment Using CFD
Traditionally, cavitation risk is assessed using flow loop testing or multiphase CFD simulations. While accurate, both approaches are time-intensive and expensive, making them difficult to apply in the early stages of valve design.
In our recent article, published in the Severe Service Edition of Valve World Magazine (Vol. 30, Issue 6, August 2025, pp. 52–55), we explore a more efficient alternative:
- Single-phase CFD simulations with pressure field correction
This method enables the calculation of key cavitation indicators such as the incipient cavitation index (σi) and the liquid pressure recovery factor (FL) without the heavy computational cost of full multiphase modeling.
Incipient Cavitation Index
- Validation and Case Studies
The approach was validated against experimental data and further demonstrated on real-world valve geometries, including ball valves and butterfly valves. Results showed close agreement with conventional methods – typically within 10% accuracy – while delivering results much faster.
Validation Study - Sharp Edge Orifice
- Practical Benefits
This efficiency enables engineers to perform rapid design iterations, compare multiple valve configurations, and make more informed design decisions early in the process. Although multiphase CFD is still required for final validation, the proposed method opens the door for faster, cost-effective cavitation risk assessment.
Time and Result comparison of CFD simulation Results
This work builds on the research we presented at the Valve World Conference in Düsseldorf (Dec 2024), and we are excited to see it published in this special severe service edition of Valve World Magazine.
👉 You can read the full article here: https://joom.ag/sjwd/p52
The incipient cavitation index feature is already available in the Autonomous Valve CFD app. To know how AVC can be integrated into your valve design process, schedule a call with our product expert: Schedule the Demo Call
For more details, visit Autonomous Valve CFD
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