Numerical Cavitation Intensity on a Hydrofoil for 3D Homogeneous Unsteady Viscous Flows

Abstract

The cavitation erosion remains an industrial issue for many applications. This paper deals with the cavitation intensity, which can be described as the fluid mechanical loading leading to cavitation damage. The estimation of this quantity is a challenging problem both in terms of modeling the cavitating flow and predicting the erosion due to cavitation. For this purpose, a numerical methodology was proposed to estimate cavitation intensity from 3D unsteady cavitating flow simulations. CFD calculations were carried out using Code_Saturne, which enables U-RANS equations resolution for a homogeneous fluid mixture using the Merkle's model, coupled to a k-ε turbulence model with the Reboud's correction. A post-process cavitation intensity prediction model was developed based on pressure and void fraction derivatives. This model is applied on a flow around a hydrofoil using different physical (inlet velocities) and numerical (meshes and time steps) parameters. The article presents the cavitation intensity model as well as the comparison of this model with experimental results. The numerical predictions of cavitation damage are in good agreement with experimental results obtained by pitting test.