A cavitation aggressiveness index within the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes methodology for cavitating flows

The paper proposes a methodology within the Reynolds averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) solvers for cavitating flows capable of predicting the flow regions of bubble collapse and the potential aggressiveness to material damage. An aggressiveness index is introduced, called cavitation aggressiveness index (CAI) based on the total derivative of pressure which identifies surface areas exposed to bubble collapses, the index is tested in two known cases documented in the open literature and seems to identify regions of potential cavitation damage.