A two-phase mixture model was established to study unsteady cavitating flows. A local compressible system of equations was derived by introducing a density-pressure function to account for the two-phase flow of water/vapor and the transition from one phase to the other. An algorithm for solving the variable-density Navier-Stokes equations of cavitating flow problem was put forward. The numerical results for unsteady characteristics of cavitating flows on a 2D NACA hydrofoil coincide well with experimental data.
Natural and ventilated cavitations generated on a smooth-nosed axisymmetric body were studied experimentally.The characteristics of small scale and localized fluctuations of “steady cavities” were measured by pressure transducers. Comparisons between natural and ventilated cavities at different measured points for several cavitation numbers were done. It was observed that the dominant fluctuations were concentrated in the frequency range of 0Hz-50Hz for all the cavitation cases, Similar shapes and magnitudes of the frequency spectra were detected for both natural and ventilated cavities. Much larger spectral amplitude in the cavity closure region suggested al fluctuations source. From partial cavitating flow to supercavitating flow, the dominant frequency and the corresponding amplitude decreased with decreasing cavitation number, which meant that cavity became more steady while developing.
A two-phase mixture model based on the solution for the Navier-Stokes equations has been utilized in calculating the hydrodynamic characteristics of cavitating honeycomb grid fins with different configurations. The calculation results of lift, drag, and hinge moment coefficients are presented in various cavitation numbers and angles of attack, and its hydrodynamic features are also analyzed. The calculation results indicate that cavitation will reduce the lift/drag ratio of grid fins. The increment of horizontal blades as lift surface cannot unendingly improve lift because of the disturbance between the blades.
Unsteady turbulent cavitation flows in a Venturi-type section and around a NACA0012 hydrofoil were simulated by two-dimensional computations of viscous compressible turbulent flow model. The Venturi-type section flow proved numerical precision and reliability of the physical model and the code, and further the cavitation around NACA0012 foil was investigated. These flows were calculated with a code of SIMPLE-type finite volume scheme, associated with a barotropic vapor/liquid state law which strongly links density and pressure variation. To simulate turbulent flows, modified RNG k-ε model was used. Numerical results obtained in the Venturi-type flow simulated periodic shedding of sheet cavity and was compared with experiment data, and the results of the NACA0012 foil show quasi-periodic vortex cavitation phenomenon. Results obtained concerning cavity shape and unsteady behavior, void ratio, and velocity field were found in good agreement with experiment ones.
Hydrodynamic forces and flow pattern of four kinds of cavitating grid fins with cavitation number from 2.5 to 0.25 were simulated numerically with a bubble two-phase flow model embodied in the commercial CFD code Fluent 6.0. Comparison with experimental datum showed that rules of hydrodynamic forces changing with cavitation number were coordinated with experiment, and cavitation made the ratio of lift to resistance decrease. Calculated axial force and chordal pressure center in all-wetted condition or those at cavitation number less than 0.75 agreed well with experiments. Normal force in all-wetted condition was less by 20 per cent. The differences between computation and experiment in the total range of cavitation number were mainly because that the incipient cavitation number in computation was less than that at experiment.
A computer code, ELANEX, including several Homogenous-Equilibrium-Model （HEM） type cavitation models, were developed, to numerically simulate natural cavitation phenomena. The effectiveness of the code was checked by cavitation flows around the disk and cylinder body for a wide range of different cavitation numbers. Cavity profiles were compared with the analytic solution of disk and empirical formulae fitted from the experiment data, and contrast between different cavitation models were fulfilled as well. The cavity length and maximal cavity diameter were found to agree well with the analytic solutions, and detailed cavity profiles were in accordance with the experimental formula. Comparison with the hemisphere headed cylinder body presented a good agreement of the pressure coefficient with the experiment data. Reasonable drag-force coefficient variation and drag-force reduction effect were obtained.
For ventilated cavitating flows in a closed water tunnel, the wall effect may exert an important influence on cavity shape and hydrodynamics, An isotropic mixture multiphase model was established to study the wall effect based on the RANS equations, coupled with a natural cavitation model and the RNG k-ε turbulent model. The governing equations were discretized using the finite volume method and solved by the Gauss-Seidel linear equation solver on the basis of a segregation algorithm. The algebraic multigrid approach was carried through to accelerate the convergence of solution. The steady ventilated cavitating flows in water tunnels of different diameter were simulated for a conceptual underwater vehicle model which had a disk cavitator. It is found that the choked cavitation number derived is close to the approximate solution of natural cavitating flow for a 3-D disk. The critical ventilation rate falls with decreasing diameter of the water tunnel. However, the cavity size and drag coeflicient are rising with the decrease in tunnel diameter for the same ventilation rate, and the cavity size will be much different in water tunnels of different diameter even for the same ventilated cavitation number.
