Essential Problems Associated with Numerical Simulation of Cavitating Flows Based on Homogeneous Models

Over the past two decades, many types of homogeneous models have been proposed for the numerical simulation of cavitating flows. Homogeneous models represent cavitation by the media whose density continuously varies from the value corresponding to liquid to that to gas. Recent studies have, however, revealed that the present homogenous models are unable to predict the breakdown characteristics of cavitating hydrofoils. The objective of this study is to clarify causes of such inability of homogeneous models to predict breakdown characteristics of cavitating hydrofoil accurately. Theoretical analysis shows that the present cavitation models inevitably cause kinetic energy loss through expansion and contraction of the media. To illustrate this fact, we computed cavitating flows in a venturi and around a hydrofoil (NACA0015) with a homogeneous model and investigated the computed flow field in detail. It is shown that the expansion and contraction of the media based on the homogeneous model do in fact cause kinetic energy loss and as a result, a region of low velocity appears downstream of the cavity. This results in a decrease of lift force in a partial cavitation condition, which is not observed in the corresponding measurements.