From a compressible fluid model to new mass conserving cavitation algorithms

•A new cavitation model as an approximation of usual Jakobsson–Floberg–Olsson/Elrod–Adams model.•New implicit Cavitation algorithm proposed for both J.F.O./E.A. and this new model.•Algorithm easily implemented for finite difference and finite element discretization.•Algorithm available for both steady state and unsteady problems.•Acceleration of the convergence with an over-relaxation parameter.

This study investigates two algorithms proposed to solve a new cavitation model. This new cavitation model is based on a compressible Reynolds equation in which the density–pressure relation is obtained from a barotropic–isentropic assumption. It can be viewed as an approximation of the Jakobson–Floberg–Olsson/Elrod Adams cavitation model. Two algorithms are proposed to solve it. The first one is explicit and needs an important number of nodes. The second is implicit and can be used for steady-state and unsteady problems. Its implementation is easy and needs only minor modifications for a computer code in which cavitation is ignored. It can also be used to compute the solution of the usual J.F.O./E.A. model. Faster convergence is obtained using a relaxation parameter.

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