Modeling and Computation of Unsteady Cavitating Flows Involved Thermal Effects Using Partially Averaged Navier–Stokes Method

Abstract

The Partially Averaged Navier–Stokes (PANS) method is assessed with various values of the control parameters ([Formula: see text]–1.0, [Formula: see text]) by performing unsteady cavitating flows around a NACA0015 hydrofoil in a surrogate fluid of fluoroketone. Available experimental data of the cavity evolution and pressure are utilized to validate and evaluate the computational method. The results show that decreasing the control parameter [Formula: see text] can help to avoid the overestimations of the turbulence viscosity near the rear region of the cavity and can resolve more scales turbulence structure. The control parameter [Formula: see text] yields good predictions on cavitation shedding dynamics behavior and pressure distribution. Furthermore, the temperature around the hydrofoil undergoes a strong evolution that is contributed by the local evaporation and condensation processes. Interestingly, there are significant unsteady characteristics along the chordwise and spanwise directions of the hydrofoil. Finally, the thermal effect on cavitating flows is associated with the physical properties of fluid media. Evaporative cooling effects are more pronounced at high temperature and subsequently suppress the intensity of cavitation.