Extension of the Schnerr–Sauer model for cryogenic cavitation

Abstract

The cavitation dynamics of cryogenic fluids are substantially impacted by the thermodynamic effects since these fluids are generally operated close to the critical point and the vapor pressure assumes strong dependence on the temperature. Developing a robust numerical methodology to model the rich physics involved in this phenomenon remains a challenging problem. This paper tries to develop an effective computational strategy to simulate cryogenic cavitation by implementing the “Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model”, coupled with the energy equation. Numerical simulations of cavitation are presented for flows over a two dimensional (2-D) hydrofoil and an axisymmetric ogive. Predicted temperature and pressure depressions within the cavity are compared with measurements by Hord et al. in NASA for liquid hydrogen and nitrogen. Specifically, the global sensibility of the cavitation solution with respect to bubble number density is investigated in detail. The Schnerr–Sauer cavitation model with corrected nuclei density provides solutions with comparable accuracy to the quasi-steady sheet cavitation in cryogenic fluids for the two geometries.