Numerical simulation of underwater explosion near air–water free surface using a five-equation reduced model

• Underwater explosion including strong shock wave is simulated numerically.
• Generation of flow pressure cavitation׳s zone and deformable interfaces are presented.
• Interaction of shock wave with interface of two-phase gas–liquid flow is analyzed.
• The complicated interface generated from explosion is captured.
• A new cavitation model including gravity force effect is considered.

Underwater explosion phenomena is a complicated problem, however, it has different and important applications. This type of explosion includes strong shock waves with generation of low pressure cavitation׳s zone and deformable interfaces. The main objective of this article is simulation of interaction of shock wave with interface of two-phase gas–liquid flow and capturing the complicated interface generated from explosion. For this reason, a five equations reduced model is considered with using a new cavitation model including gravity force effect. From the numerical point of view, a Godunov method was applied using HLLC solver. By using MUSCL-Hancock strategy, second order accuracy is achieved. To verify the developed computer code, a one dimensional shock tube test case and two test cases including one dimensional cavitation in open tube and a two dimensional underwater explosion where its experimental results can be found in the related literature are used for comparison to justify the obtained results. The comparison of the results confirms an excellent accuracy of the numerical results. The proposed new cavitation model, on the other hand, is capable of calculating low pressures and simulating the dynamic creation and evolution of the bulk cavitation below the free surface.