A Review of Cavitation Phenomenon and Its Influence on the Spray Atomization in Diesel Injector Nozzles

In view of the combustion efficiency and emission performance, various new clean combustion modes put forward higher requirements for the performance of the fuel injection system, and the cavitating two-phase flow characteristics in the injector nozzle have a significant impact on the spray atomization and combustion performance. This article comprehensively discusses and summarizes the factors that affect cavitation and the effectiveness of cavitation, and presents the research status and existent problems under each factor. Among them, viscosity factors of diesel fuel are a hot research topic that researchers are passionate about, and physical properties of diesel fuel still have the value of further in-depth research. However, the importance of material surface factors ranks last since the nozzle material was determined. Establishing a more comprehensive cavitation–atomization model considering various factors is the focus of research on cavitation phenomena. The improved model can ultimately serve high combustion efficiency and great emission performance.