TITLE:
A Finite Element Model of Unsteady Cavitating Fluid Flow around a Hydrofoil
AUTHORS:
Carlos Carbonel
KEYWORDS:
Cavitation, Finite Elements, Hydrofoil, Unsteady Flows, Zwart-Gerber-Belamri Model
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Modelling and Simulation,
Vol.9 No.4,
October
29,
2021
ABSTRACT: The
present study deals with the unsteady dynamics of cavitation around the NACA
0015 hydrofoil in a channel. A finite element model is proposed to solve the
governing equations of momentum and mass conservation. Turbulent flows around
the hydrofoil are described by the Prandtl-Kolmogorov model. The cavitation
phenomenon is modeled through a mixture model involving liquid and vapor flows
and the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri (ZGB) model is considered to evaluate the
transport of the water vapor fraction. The variational finite element model
formulation includes the mixing of the characteristic method and the finite
element. Also, at the open sides of the channel flow, an open boundary
condition is imposed. Numerical experiments are performed for cavitation
numbers 0.8 and 0.4. The presented model predicts the essential features of
unsteady cavitating flows, the generation of vapor cavities, the time-dependent
oscillations of the variables and the presence of vortical flow structures
associated to vapor volume concentrations during the shedding process.