Cryogenic cavitation: Advances in experimental characterization and numerical modeling

Cryogenic cavitation differs fundamentally from room-temperature cavitation due to strong temperature-dependent thermophysical properties, sharp vapor–pressure variations, and significant heat-transfer coupling during phase change. Understanding these mechanisms is crucial for the reliable design and operation of cryogenic fluid machinery in aerospace and energy systems. This review summarizes recent progress in experimental and numerical investigations of cryogenic cavitation. On the experimental side, studies have advanced from single-bubble observations to system-scale visualizations of inducers and nozzles, aided by high-speed imaging, synchronized pressure–temperature measurements, and improved cryogenic test facilities. These developments have clarified the dominant role of thermodynamic suppression and unsteady cloud dynamics. On the modeling and simulation side, the evolution from homogeneous equilibrium and transport-equation-based formulations to thermodynamically enhanced frameworks is reviewed, together with simulations of inducers and benchmark configurations, such as Venturi tubes, nozzles, and hydrofoils. Looking forward, integrated experimental–numerical methodologies, multi-scale and system-level simulations, and data-driven modeling strategies—particularly machine-learning-assisted cavitation closures—are expected to yield predictive, thermodynamically consistent tools for optimizing next-generation cryogenic turbomachinery.