• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.240-253
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• 2015

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the applicability of mass transfer cavitation models and determine appropriate numerical parameters for cavitating flow simulations. CFD simulations were performed for a NACA66 hydrofoil at cavitation numbers of 1.49 and 1.00, corresponding to steady sheet and unsteady sheet/cloud cavitating regimes using the Kubota and Merkle cavitation models. The Merkle model was implemented into CFX by User Fortran code. The Merkle cavitation model is found to give some improvements for cavitating flow simulation results for these cases. Turbulence modeling is also found to have an important contribution to the prediction quality of the simulations. The relationship between the turbulence viscosity modification, in order to take into account the local compressibility at the vapor/liquid interfaces, and the predicted numerical results is clarified. The limitations of current cavitating flow simulation techniques are discussed throughout the paper.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.269-277
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• 2009

The current paper focuses on the analysis of transient cavitating flow in pressurised polyethylene pipes, which are characterized by viscoelastic rheological behaviour. A hydraulic transient solver that describes fluid transients in plastic pipes has been developed. This solver incorporates the description of dynamic effects related to the energy dissipation (unsteady friction), the rheological mechanical behaviour of the viscoelastic pipe and the cavitating pipe flow. The Discrete Vapour Cavity Model (DVCM) and the Discrete Gas Cavity Model (DGCM) have been used to describe transient cavitating flow. Such models assume that discrete air cavities are formed in fixed sections of the pipeline and consider a constant wave speed in pipe reaches between these cavities. The cavity dimension (and pressure) is allowed to grow and collapse according to the mass conservation principle. An extensive experimental programme has been carried out in an experimental set-up composed of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipes, assembled at Instituto Superior T$\acute{e}$cnico of Lisbon, Portugal. The experimental facility is composed of a single pipeline with a total length of 203 m and inner diameter of 44 mm. The creep function of HDPE pipes was determined by using an inverse model based on transient pressure data collected during experimental runs without cavitating flow. Transient tests were carried out by the fast closure of the ball valves located at downstream end of the pipeline for the non-cavitating flow and at upstream for the cavitating flow. Once the rheological behaviour of HDPE pipes were known, computational simulations have been run in order to describe the hydraulic behaviour of the system for the cavitating pipe flow. The calibrated transient solver is capable of accurately describing the attenuation, dispersion and shape of observed transient pressures. The effects related to the viscoelasticity of HDPE pipes and to the occurrence of vapour pressures during the transient event are discussed.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.31-40
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• 2011

Unsteady sheet cavitation on a three-dimensional twisted hydrofoil was studied using an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations solver based on a cell-centered finite volume method. As a verification test of the computational method. non-cavitating and cavitating flow over a modified NACA66 foil section was simulated and validated against existing experimental data. The numerical uncertainties of forces and pressure were evaluated for three levels of mesh resolution. The computed pressure on the foil and the cavity shedding behavior were validated by comparing with existing experimental data. The cavity shedding dynamics by re-entrant jets from the end and sides of the cavity were investigated.

• International Journal of Fluid Machinery and Systems
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.119-128
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• 2016

This work presents the numerical investigation of an unsteady cavitating flow around a balancing drum of a multistage pump. The main attention is focused on the cavitation phenomena, which occur in the rear part of the drum clearance, cause the erosion of the drum material and influence the pressure losses and the flow rate through the clearance. The one-way coupling of the URANS equations and the full Rayleigh-Plesset equation is employed to analyse the flow field as well as the dynamics of cavitating bubbles. The numerical simulations show that the erosion processes are highly influenced by shaft vibrations, namely by periodic deformations of the annular clearance in time. The calculated results are verified by erosion tests on a real pump.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2005.10a
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• pp.179-182
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• 2005

We have developed a numerical scheme to reproduce the unsteady flows with cavitation by the finite-difference method. The evolution of cavitation is represented by the source/sink of vapor phase in the incompressible liquid flow. The pressure-velocity coupling is based on the fractional-step method for incompressible fluid flows, in which the compressibility is taken into account through the low Mach number assumption. We applied our method for the cavitating flows in a two-dimensional cascade, which approximates the portion near the tip of inducer in liquid-fuel engine. Particular attention was focused on the influence of turbulence model in this report. Using an eddy viscosity model, although it was not an optimized one for our purpose, the agreement with the experimental observation was improved.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.37-46
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• 2011

Unsteady sheet cavitation on a three-dimensional twisted hydrofoil was studied using an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations solver based on a cell-centered finite volume method. As a verification test of the computational method, non-cavitating and cavitating flows over a modified NACA66 foil section were simulated and validated against existing experimental data. The numerical uncertainties of forces and pressure were evaluated for three levels of mesh resolution. The computed pressure on the foil and the cavity shedding behavior were validated by comparing with existing experimental data. The cavity shedding dynamics by re-entrant jets from the end and sides of the cavity were investigated.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.14-21
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• 2011

Super-cavitating flows around under-water bodies are being studied for drag reduction and dramatic speed increase. In this paper, high speed super-cavitating flow around a two-dimensional symmetric wedge-shaped body were studied using an unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations solver based on a cell-centered finite volume method. To verify the computational method, flow over a hemispherical head-form body was simulated and validated against existing experimental data. Various computational conditions, such as different wedge angles and caviation numbers, were considered for the super-cavitating flow around the wedge-shaped body. Super-cavity begins to form in the low pressure region and propagates along the wedge body. The computed cavity lengths and velocities on the cavity boundary with varying cavitation number were validated by comparing with analytic solution.

• 한국전산유체공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.10a
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• pp.1-9
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• 2001

In this paper, some numerical methods recently developed for gas-liquid two-phase flows are reviewed. And then, a preconditioning method to solve cavitating flow by the author is introduced. This method employs a finite-difference Runge-Kutta method combined with MUSCL TVD scheme, and a homogeneous equilibrium cavitation model. So that it permits to treat simply the whole gas-liquid two-phase flow field including wave propagation, large density changes and incompressible flow characteristic at low Mach number. Finally, numerical results such as detailed observations of the unsteady cavity flows, a sheet cavitation break-off phenomena and some data related to performance characteristics of hydrofoils are shown.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Propulsion Engineers Conference
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• 2008.03a
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• pp.700-710
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• 2008

A Bubble size distribution model has been developed for the numerical simulation of cryogenic high-speed cavitating flow of the turbo-pumps in the liquid fuel rocket engine. The new model is based on the previous one proposed by the authors, in which the bubble number density was solved as a function of bubble size at each grid point of the calculation domain by means of Eulerian framework with respect to the bubble size coordinate. In the previous model, the growth/decay of bubbles due to pressure difference between bubble and liquid was solved exactly based on Rayleigh-Plesset equation. However, the unsteady heat transfer between liquid and bubble, which controls the evaporation/condensation rate, was approximated by a theoretical solution of unsteady heat conduction under a constant temperature difference. In the present study, the unsteady temperature field in the liquid around a bubble is also solved exactly in order to establish an accurate and efficient numerical simulation code for cavitating flows. The growth/decay of a single bubble and growth of bubbles with nucleation were successfully simulated by the proposed model.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.36-42
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• 2018

Unlike a slender body, vortices are shed off alternately in the wake of a blunt body. In the case of liquid flows, when the pressure falls below the vapor pressure, cavitation occurs in the vortex core and affects the formation of the vortex street. This phenomenon is of major importance in many practical cases because the alternate shedding of vortices creates imbalanced forces on the body. Hence, it is very important to determine the shedding frequency of cavitating vortices. In this paper, the unsteady cavitating flow around a two-dimensional wedge-shaped submerged body was simulated using the commercial code STAR-CCM+. A numerical investigation of the structure of cavitating vortices was performed for a model with an apex angle of $20^{\circ}C$. The results were validated by comparing them with experimental measurements carried out at a cavitation tunnel of Chungnam National University (CNU-CT). It was found that the shedding frequency of the vortex increased by up to 18%, which was strongly affected by the development of cavitation.