Cavitating flow behind a backward facing step

Abstract

Flow topology and unsteady cavitation dynamics in the wake of a backward facing step was investigated using high speed videography and time-resolved X-ray densitometry, along with static and dynamic pressure measurements. The measurements are used to inform the understanding of underlying mechanisms of observed flow dynamics as they are related to shock wave induced instabilities. The differences in cavity topology and behavior at different cavitation numbers are examined to highlight flow features such as the pair of cavitating spanwise vortices in the shear layer and propagating bubbly shock front. The shock speeds at different cavitation conditions are estimated based on void-fraction measurements using the X-T diagram and compared to those computed using the one-dimensional Rankine Hugoniot jump condition. The two speeds(computed and measured) are found to be comparable. The effect of compressibility of the bubbly mixture is determined by estimating the local speed of sound using homogeneous ‘frozen model’ and homogeneous ‘equilibrium model’. The current estimation of sound speed suggests that expression used to determine the local speed of sound is closer to the classic ‘frozen model’ than the ‘equilibrium model’ of speed of sound.