Review of Numerical Methodologies for Modeling Cavitation

Stavropoulos-Vasilakis, Evangelos; Kyriazis, Nicholas; Jadidbonab, Hesamaldin; Koukouvinis, Phoevos; Gavaises, Manolis

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-823388-7.00004-7

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 135 publications

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“…As for cavitation, CFD is successfully employed in the early stages of machine design, thus providing a valuable aid in the study of cavitating structures at preliminary levels. Over the years, modelling of phase transition has gone through several formulation revisions to improve the accuracy in predicting the behaviour of vapour cavities on industrial applications [22]. Currently, a widely adopted solution is one including mass-transfer rate approaches.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Assessment of a Two-Phase Model for Propulsive Pump Performance Prediction

Avanzi,

Baù,

De Vanna

et al. 2023

Energies

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The present work provides a detailed numerical investigation of a turbopump for waterjet applications in cavitating conditions. In particular, the study focuses on the complexities of cavitation modelling, serving as a pivotal reference for future computational research, especially in off-design hydro-jet scenarios, and it aims to extend current model assessments of the existing methods, by disputing their standard formulations. Thus, a computational domain of a single rotor-stator blade passage is solved using steady-state Reynolds-Averaged Navier–Stokes equations, coupled with one-, two-, and four-equation turbulence models, and compared with available measurements, encompassing both nominal and thrust breakdown conditions. Through grid dependency analysis, a medium refinement with the Shear Stress Transport turbulence model is chosen as the optimal configuration, reducing either computational time and relative error in breakdown efficiency to 1%. This arrangement is coupled with a systematic study of the Zwart cavitation model parameters through multipliers ranging from 10−2 to 102. Results reveal that properly tuning these values allows for a more accurate reconstruction of the initial phases of cavitation up to breakdown. Notably, increasing the nucleation radius reduces the difference between the estimated head rise and experimental values near breakdown, reducing the maximum error by 4%. This variation constrains vapour concentration, promoting cavitation volume extension in the passage. A similar observation occurs when modifying the condensation coefficient, whereas altering the vaporization coefficient yields opposite effects.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical Assessment of a Two-Phase Model for Propulsive Pump Performance Prediction

Avanzi,

Baù,

De Vanna

et al. 2023

Energies

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Numerical study on cavitation generation induced by the high-speed jet impact on the water surface

Dong,

Lyu,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Physics of Fluids

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The complex interaction between shock waves and two-phase interfaces can generate cavitation. In this study, the cavitation induced by the high-speed jet impact on the water surface was investigated. The mixture fluid is modeled using the barotropic equation of state under the framework of the two-phase flow model, which can describe the mixture of air, water, and vapor with any proportion. Through constructing a 1D Riemann problem for the impact-induced cavitation phase transition, it indicates that the coupling effect of multiple rarefaction waves emitted from the two-phase interface is responsible for the cavitation phase transition inside the liquid. Then, a 3D (three-dimensional) simulation regarding the impact of a high-speed jet on the water surface was conducted and validated against previous experiments that captured the cavitation phase transition phenomenon in the central region after the jet impact. The 3D simulation results revealed the spatial structure and development process of shock waves in detail. The coupling effects of shock waves and two-phase interfaces generate a ring-shaped rarefaction wave, which develops radially inward and superimposes, resulting in the formation of acorn-shaped cavitation bubble nuclei inside the water. The 3D simulation can provide spatial shock/rarefaction wave structures and internal flow details that have never been obtained in experiments, such as shock generation and propagation, rarefaction wave generation and center convergence, and the internal structure of acorn-shaped cavitation nucleation. Furthermore, the influence of the jet velocity on the cavitation intensity was analyzed, and a quantitative relationship was provided.

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Numerical Simulation of Cavitation Characteristics of a Centrifugal Pump Based on an Improved ZGB Model

et al. 2023

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We modified the Zwart–Gerber–Belamri (ZGB) cavitation and RNG turbulence models based on their rotational motion characteristics, as well as simulating the phenomenon of small fluctuations in rotational speed due to the action of hydraulic excitation force, to increase the precision of numerical simulations of the cavitation characteristics of centrifugal pumps. According to the theory behind the enhanced model, the pressure gradient in the impeller runner changes uniformly, and the cavitation bubble initially manifests itself at the front edge of the blade’s suction. With the reduction in the effective margin, changes in the impeller flow channel’s pressure gradient increased, the blade’s suction-side cavitation area expanded, and the flow field’s internal disturbance enhanced, resulting in hydraulic loss to the centrifugal pump, considerably reduced operating performance, and the blade pressure side by the cavitation-affected area becoming smaller. The blade’s suction-surface pressure–load curve can be divided into a low-pressure cavitation zone, a pressure fluctuation zone, and a pressure stabilization zone. The pressure–frequency-domain diagram of each monitoring point has a discrete distribution, and the main frequency is the blade-passing frequency ƒ = 293 Hz and its n times frequency. With the deepening of the cavitation, the amplitude of the main frequency in the low-frequency band showed a trend of increasing and then decreasing, and the amplitude of the high-frequency band showed an increasing trend. When we applied the ZGB cavitation model based on the improved rotational motion characteristics to our numerical calculation of the centrifugal pumps’ cavitation characteristics, our calculated cavitation performance curve was closer to the experimental value than the ZGB model, and when the centrifugal pump’s cavitation degree was increased, the area covered by the vacuole area was 1/4 of the suction side of the vane.

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Review of Numerical Methodologies for Modeling Cavitation

Cited by 3 publications

References 135 publications

Numerical Assessment of a Two-Phase Model for Propulsive Pump Performance Prediction

Numerical Assessment of a Two-Phase Model for Propulsive Pump Performance Prediction

Numerical study on cavitation generation induced by the high-speed jet impact on the water surface

Numerical Simulation of Cavitation Characteristics of a Centrifugal Pump Based on an Improved ZGB Model

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