Numerical simulation of unsteady cavitation in a high-speed water jet

Abstract

Concerning the numerical simulation of high-speed water jet with intensive cavitation this paper presents a practical compressible mixture flow method by coupling a simplified estimation of bubble cavitation and a compressible mixture flow computation. The mean flow of two-phase mixture is calculated by URANS for compressible fluid. The intensity of cavitation in a local field is evaluated by the volume fraction of gas phase varying with the mean flow, and the effect of cavitation on the flow turbulence is considered by applying a density correction to the evaluation of eddy viscosity. High-speed submerged water jets issuing from a sheathed sharp-edge orifice nozzle are treated when the cavitation number, σ = 0.1, and the computation result is compared with experimental data The result reveals that cavitation occurs initially at the entrance of orifice and bubble cloud develops gradually while flowing downstream along the shear layer. Developed bubble cloud breaks up and then sheds downstream periodically near the sheath exit. The pattern of cavitation cloud shedding evaluated by simulation agrees experimental one, and the possibility to capture the unsteadily shedding of cavitation clouds is demonstrated. The decay of core velocity in cavitating jet is delayed greatly compared to that in no-activation jet, and the effect of the nozzle sheath is demonstrated.