Numerical simulation of cavitating flow in maritime high-pressure direct fuel injection nozzles and assessment of cavitation-erosion damage

The internal flow of Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) in two maritime direct fuel injector nozzles is studied by 3D flow simulations for the assessment of erosion-sensitive wall regions. The nozzle geometries differ in number, diameter and inclination angle of holes as well as sac wall curvature. Long-term endurance experiments reveal characteristic damage locations for both nozzles. Simulations are performed by a compressible density-based flow solver with a barotropic cavitation model to capture shock wave dynamics. Real geometries and the entire injection cycle with time-dependent rail pressure and transient needle movement are considered. A statistical evaluation of individual collapsing voids in terms of their condensation rate yield an erosion probability that is compared against experimental damage locations. Due to the scatter in the values of viscosity of real fuels a viscosity variation is carried out, which shows that while a lower viscosity leads to a rise of erosion probability, the location of erosion-sensitive wall zones is not significantly changed. The analysis of 3D velocity and void field evolutions motivates the introduction of distinct injection sub-phases of the entire cycle. Erosion probability is separately evaluated within each sub-phase. By this simulation procedure, experimentally found erosion spots are associated with particular sub-phases and can be traced back to characteristic flow and void structures that are linked to particular nozzle geometry features.