Experimental and numerical investigation of unsteady cavitating flows through a 2D hydrofoil

In the present study, firstly, the unsteady cavitating flows around a hydrofoil are studied based on the flow visualization and detail velocity measurement, a high-speed video camera is used to visualize the flow structures, and a particle image velocimetry （PIV） technique is applied to the measurement of the time-averaged and instantaneous velocity and vorticity fields. The results show that the unsteadiness of mass transfer process between the vapor and the two-phase regions is substantial, a self-oscillatory behavior of the whole sheet cavitation is obtained, with large length fluctuations and vapor cloud shedding, and also the cavitation structure depends on the interaction of the water-vapor mixture and the periodic vortex shedding. The main purpose of this experimental study is to offer information for validating computational models, and shed light on the unsteady multiphase transport process of cavitating flows. Furthermore, with an emphasis on the dynamics of the attached turbulent cavitating flows, a filter-based model （FBM） is derived from the k-6 two-equation model, a conditional averaging method aimed at improving unsteady simulation is applied to computation. In comparison to the standard k-ε model, overall, the filter-based model is shown to improve the predictive capability considerably.

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF 2D PERIODIC UNSTEADY CAVITATING FLOWS

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.

Numerical simulation of unsteady cavitating flows around a transient pitching hydrofoil

The objective of this paper is to improve the understanding of the influence of multiphase flow on the turbulent closure model, the interplay between vorticity fields and cavity dynamics around a pitching hydrofoil. The effects of pitching rate on the sub- cavitating and cavitating response of the pitching hydrofoil are also investigated. In particular, we focus on the interactions between cavity inception, growth, and shedding and the vortex flow structures, and their impacts on the hydrofoil performance. The calculations are 2-D and performed by solving the incompressible, multiphase Unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier Stokes （URANS） equations via the commercial CFD code CFX. The k-co SST （Shear Stress Transport） turbulence model is used along with the transport equation-based cavitation models. The density correction function is considered to reduce the eddy viscosity according to the computed local fluid mixture density. The calculation results are validated with experiments conducted by Ducoin et al. （see Computational and experimental investigation of flow over a transient pitching hydrofoil, Eur J Mech/B Fluids, 2009, 28：728-743 and An experimental analysis of fluid structure interaction of a flexible hydrofoil in vari- ous flow regimes including cavitating flow, Eur J Mech B/fluids, 2012, 36： 63-74）. Results are shown for a NACA66 hydro- foil subject to slow （quasi static, t2=6~/s, ＆＊ =0.18） and fast （dynamic, ＆=63~/s, dr＂ =1.89） pitching motions from a =0~ to a =15~. Both subcavitaing （or =8.0） and cavitating （cr=3.0） flows are considered. For subcavitating flow （or=8.0）, low frequency fluctuations have been observed when the leading edge vortex shedding occurs during stall, and delay of stall is ob- served with increasing pitching velocity. For cavitating flow （tr=3.0）, small leading edge cavities are observed with the slow pitching case, which significantly modified the vortex dynamics at high angles of attack, leading to high frequency fluctuations of the hydrodynamic coefficients and different stall behaviors compared to the subcavitating flow at the same pitching rate. On the other hand, for the fast pitching case at or=3.0, large-scale sheet/cloud cavitation is observed, the cavity behavior is un- steady and has a strong impact on the hydrodynamic response, which leads to high amplitude fluctuations of the hydrodynamic coefficients, as well as significant changes in the stall and post-stall behavior. The numerical results also show that the local density modification helps to reduce turbulent eddy viscosity in the cavitating region, which significantly modifies the cavity lengths and shedding frequencies, particularly for the fast pitching case. In general, compared with the experimental visualiza- tions, the numerical results with local density correction have been found to agree well with experimental measurements and observations for both slow and fast transient pitching cases.

Detached-eddy Simulation for Time-dependent Turbulent Cavitating Flows

The Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes（RANS）,such as the original k-ω two-equation closures,have been very popular in providing good prediction for a wide variety of flows with presently available computational resource.But for cavitating flows,the above equations noticeably over-predict turbulent production and hence effective viscosity.In this paper,the detached eddy simulation（DES） method for time-dependent turbulent cavitating flows is investigated.To assess the state-of-the-art of computational capabilities,different turbulence models including the widely used RANS model and DES model are conducted.Firstly,in order to investigate the grid dependency in computations,different grid sizes are adopted in the computation.Furthermore,the credibility of DES model is supported by the unsteady cavitating flows over a 2D hydrofoil.The results show that the DES model can effectively reduce the eddy viscosities.From the experimental validations regarding the force analysis,frequency and the unsteady cavity visualizations,more favorable agreement with experimental visualizations and measurements are obtained by DES model.DES model is better able to capture unsteady phenomena including cavity length and the resulting hydrodynamic characteristics,reproduces the time-averaged velocity quantitatively around the hydrofoil,and yields more acceptable and unsteady dynamics features.The DES model has shown to be effective in improving the overall predictive capability of unsteady cavitating flows.

Experimental Investigation on Cavitating Flow Shedding over an Axisymmetric Blunt Body

Nowadays,most researchers focus on the cavity shedding mechanisms of unsteady cavitating flows over different objects,such as 2D/3D hydrofoils,venturi-type section,axisymmetric bodies with different headforms,and so on.But few of them pay attention to the differences of cavity shedding modality under different cavitation numbers in unsteady cavitating flows over the same object.In the present study,two kinds of shedding patterns are investigated experimentally.A high speed camera system is used to observe the cavitating flows over an axisymmetric blunt body and the velocity fields are measured by a particle image velocimetry（PIV）technique in a water tunnel for different cavitation conditions.The U-type cavitating vortex shedding is observed in unsteady cavitating flows.When the cavitation number is 0.7,there is a large scale cavity rolling up and shedding,which cause the instability and dramatic fluctuation of the flows,while at cavitation number of 0.6,the detached cavities can be conjunct with the attached part to induce the break-off behavior again at the tail of the attached cavity,as a result,the final shedding is in the form of small scale cavity and keeps a relatively steady flow field.It is also found that the interaction between the re-entrant flow and the attached cavity plays an important role in the unsteady cavity shedding modality.When the attached cavity scale is insufficient to overcome the re-entrant flow,it deserves the large cavity rolling up and shedding just as that at cavitation number of 0.7.Otherwise,the re-entrant flow is defeated by large enough cavity to induce the cavity-combined process and small scale cavity vortexes shedding just as that of the cavitation number of0.6.This research shows the details of two different cavity shedding modalities which is worthful and meaningful for the further study of unsteady cavitation.

Passive control of cavitating flow around an axisymmetric projectile by using a trip bar

Quasi-periodical evolutions such as shedding and collapsing of unsteady cloud cavitating flow, induce strong pressure fluctuations, what may deteriorate maneuvering stability and corrode surfaces of underwater vehicles. This paper analyzed effects on cavitation stability of a trip bar arranged on high-speed underwater projectile. Small scale water tank experiment and large eddy simulation using the open source software Open FOAM were used, and the results agree well with each other. Results also indicate that trip bar can obstruct downstream re-entrant jet and pressure wave propagation caused by collapse, resulting in a relatively stable sheet cavity between trip bar and shoulder of projectiles.

A modified PANS model for computations of unsteady turbulence cavitating flows

A modification to the PANS(partially averaged Navier-Stokes) model is proposed to simulate unsteady cavitating flows. In the model, the parameter fk is modified to vary as a function of the ratios between the water density and the mixture density in the local flows. The objective of this study is to validate the modified model and further understand the interaction between turbulence and cavitation around a Clark-Y hydrofoil. The comparisons between the numerical and experiment results show that the modified model can be improved to predict the cavity evolution, vortex shedding frequency and the lift force fluctuating in time fairly well, as it can effectively modulate the eddy viscosity in the cavitating region and various levels of physical turbulent fluctuations are resolved. In addition, from the computational results, it is proved that cavitation phenomenon physically influences the turbulent level, especially by the vortex shedding behaviors. Also, the mean u-velocity profiles demonstrate that the attached cavity thickness can alter the local turbulent shear layer.

Physical and numerical investigation on transient cavitating flows

The objective of this paper is to investigate transient cavitating flows around a hydrofoil via combined physical and numerical studies. The aims are to 1) investigate the periodic formation, breakup, shedding, and collapse of the sheet/cloud cavities, 2) provide a better insight in the physical mechanism that governs the dynamics and structures of the sheet/cloud cavitation, 3) quantify the influence of cavitation on the surrounding flow structures. Results are presented for a Clark-Y hydrofoil fixed at an angle of attack of a=8° at a moderate Reynolds number, Re=7×105 , for sheet/cloud cavitating conditions. The experimental studies were conducted in a cavitation tunnel at Beijing Institute of Technology, China. The numerical simulations are performed by solving the incompressible, multiphase unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (URANS) equations via the commercial code CFX using a transport equation-based cavitation model; a filter-based density corrected model (FBDCM) is used to regulate the turbulent eddy viscosity in both the cavitation regions near the foil and in the wake. The results show that numerical predictions are capable of capturing the initiation of the cavity, growth toward the trailing edge, and subsequent shedding in accordance with the quantitative features observed in the experiment. Regarding vapor shedding in the cavitating flow around the three-dimensional foil, it is primarily attributed to the effect of the re-entrant flow, which is formed due to the strong adverse pressure gradient. The results show strong correlation between the cavity and vorticity structures, demonstrating that the inception, growth, shedding, and collapse of sheet/cloud cavities are important mechanisms for vorticity production and modification.

NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF CAVITATING FLOWS

A new model, which involves viscous and multi-phase effects, was given to study cavitating flows. A local compressible model was established 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 calculating variable-density N-S equations of cavitating flow problem was put forward. The present method yields reasonable results for both steady and unsteady cavitating flows in 2D and 3D cases. The numerical results of unsteady character of cavitating flows around hydrofoils coincide well with experimental data. It indicates the feasibility to apply this method to a variety of cavitating flows of practical problems.