Large-Eddy Simulations of cavitation in a square surface cavity

We report on the development and application of a multiphase approach to the prediction of cavitation induced by high-speed flow over and within a square surface cavity. The approach entails employing a full cavitation model in conjunction with Large-Eddy Simulations in order to capture the initiation and development of bubble formations in turbulent-flow conditions. The incipient formation of the bubble cloud, and the flow processes of vortex shedding and shear-layer oscillations are tracked using the Volume of Fluid method. The validity of the computational approach was assessed by comparisons with experiments on cavitating flow over a hydrofoil. Application to the case of flow over and within a two-dimensional square cavity with cavitation clearly reveal the presence of traveling cavitation at the corner of the cavity trailing edge, and vortex cavitation within the cavity. It is shown that the collapse of cavitation bubbles results in an impact frequency that is higher than the frequency of the shear-layer oscillations. This implies that structural damage due to cavitation is likely to be most severe at the corner formed at the intersection of the cavity's trailing edge and the flat surface upstream of it.