Eulerian/Lagrangian Analysis for the Prediction of Cavitation Inception

Abstract

An Eulerian/Lagrangian computational procedure was developed for the prediction of cavitation inception by event rate. The carrier-phase flow field was computed using an Eulerian Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) solver. The Lagrangian analysis was one-way coupled to the RANS solution, since at inception, the contributions of mass, momentum, and energy of the microbubbles to the carrier flow are negligible. The trajectories were computed using Newton’s second law with models for various forces acting on the bubble. The growth was modeled using the Rayleigh-Plesset equation. The important effect of turbulence was included by adding a random velocity component to the mean flow velocity and by reducing the local static pressure. Simulation results for the Schiebe body indicate agreement with experimentally observed trends and a significant event rate at cavitation indices above visual inception.