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 α=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.