Abstract
The turbulent cavitating flow around the propelling pump tip clearance is numerically simulated using the large eddy simulation (LES) method coupled with the Zwart-Gerber-Belamri (ZGB) cavitation model to investigate the cavitation-vortex interaction mechanism. The calculated cavitation structures around the blades are in a remarkable agreement with the experimental results. The distributions of the tip clearance vortex under two cavitation conditions are obtained and compared. The results show that the cavitation development enhances the vorticity generation and the flow unsteadiness around the tip clearance of a propelling pump. Vortices are basically located around the cavitation areas, particularly in the tip clearance region, during the cavitation. The relative vorticity transport equation is applied for the cavitating turbulent flows and it is further indicated that the vortex stretching term makes the main contribution in the vortex production, and the baroclinic torque and dilation terms are important source terms for the vorticity generation in the cavitating flow. In addition, the viscous diffusion term and the Coriolis force term are significant in modifying the vorticity field inside the blade tip clearance.
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