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Prediction of unsteady, internal turbulent cavitating flow using dynamic cavitation model

P.K. Ullas (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)
Dhiman Chatterjee (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)
S. Vengadesan (Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India)

International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow

ISSN: 0961-5539

Article publication date: 8 February 2022

Issue publication date: 16 August 2022

407

Abstract

Purpose

Understanding the interaction of turbulence and cavitation is an essential step towards better controlling the cavitation phenomenon. The purpose of this paper is to bring out the efficacy of different modelling approaches to predict turbulence and cavitation-induced phase changes.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper compares the dynamic cavitation (DCM) and Schnerr–Sauer models. Also, the effects of different modelling methods for turbulence, unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) and detached eddy simulations (DES) are also brought out. Numerical predictions of internal flow through a venturi are compared with experimental results from the literature.

Findings

The improved predictive capability of cavitating structures by DCM is brought out clearly. The temporal variation of the cavity size and velocity illustrates the involvement of re-entrant jet in cavity shedding. From the vapour fraction contours and the attached cavity length, it is found that the formation of the re-entrant jet is stronger in DES results compared with that by URANS. Variation of pressure, velocity, void fraction and the mass transfer rate at cavity shedding and collapse regions are presented. Wavelet analysis is used to capture the shedding frequency and also the corresponding occurrence of features of cavity collapse.

Originality/value

Based on the performance, computational time and resource requirements, this paper shows that the combination of DES and DCM is the most suitable option for predicting turbulent-cavitating flows.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the High Performance Computing Environment (HPCE) at IIT Madras for providing the necessary computational resources.

Citation

Ullas, P.K., Chatterjee, D. and Vengadesan, S. (2022), "Prediction of unsteady, internal turbulent cavitating flow using dynamic cavitation model", International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, Vol. 32 No. 10, pp. 3210-3232. https://doi.org/10.1108/HFF-09-2021-0600

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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