Numerical Prediction of Unsteady Behavior of Cavitating Flow on Hydrofoils using Bubble Dynamics Cavitation Model

This paper presents a numerical study with pressure-based finite volume method for prediction of non-cavitating and time dependent cavitating flow on hydrofoil. The phenomenon of cavitation is modeled through a mixture model. For the numerical simulation of cavitating flow, a bubble dynamics cavitation model is used to investigate the unsteady behavior of cavitating flow and describe the generation and evaporation of vapor phase. The non-cavitating study focuses on choosing mesh size and the influence of the turbulence model. Three turbulence models such as Spalart-Allmaras, Shear Stress Turbulence (SST) k-omega model and Re-Normalization Group (RNG) k-epsilon model with enhanced wall treatment are used to capture the turbulent boundary layer on the hydrofoil surface. The cavitating study presents an unsteady behavior of the partial cavity attached to the foil at different time steps for sigma=0.8. Moreover, this study focuses on cavitation inception, the shape and general behavior of sheet cavitation, lift and drag forces for different cavitation numbers. Finally, the flow pattern and hydrodynamic characteristics are also studied at different angles of attack.