Investigating the performance of the modified two-component pressure approach in capturing column separation with large vapour cavities

Abstract

This paper investigates the performance of the modified two-component pressure approach (proposed model), recently proposed by the authors, in capturing column separation with large vapour cavities. The proposed model calculates both the cavitating and waterhammer flow regions using a single set of equations that governs unsteady flow in open channels. Comparing the results with experimental data, and the results obtained from the discrete gas cavity model (counterpart model) reveals that: (1) the proposed model can accurately capture the evolution of large vapour cavities in pipe systems; (2) the model provides more accurate results compared to the counterpart model; (3) under some circumstances the counterpart provides inaccurate results as it fails to account for the energy loss in the cavitating flow zone while the proposed model was shown to resolve the issue. Finally, the results exhibit the superiority of the proposed model over the counterpart model and the conventional open-channel-based models.