Application of the Partially-Averaged Navier-Stokes method in computations of turbulent cavitating flows

Since the complexity of turbulent flow, it is difficult to show accurate prediction for the engineering applications by the common turbulence models. Turbulence problems are the major challenge of predicting cavitating flows. Partially-Averaged Navier-Stokes model (PANS) is a new approach to simulate turbulence flow. The model is evaluated in steady cavitating flow over a blunt body revolution and unsteady cavitating flow around a Clark-Y hydrofoil, respectively. The influence of unresolved-to-total ratio of kinetic energy f_k on simulation accuracy and how to decide the value of f_k are investigated. It is demonstrated that more turbulence are resolved with the decreasing f_k, in addition, the results seem more plausible. Also, it is shown that PANS model is able to capture unsteady phenomena including cavity shedding and cavity dynamics more accurately and predicts a range of cavitating flows better.