Cloud Cavitating Flow in Venturi: New Insights from Adaptive Mesh Refinement

A recent paper titled "Investigation of cloud cavitating flow in a venturi using Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR)" by Dhruv Apte, Mingming Ge, and Olivier Coutier-Delgosha explores the complexities of unsteady cloud cavitating flow, which poses challenges to the efficiency of hydraulic machinery such as pumps and propellers. The study employs the Detached Eddy Simulation (DES) model in conjunction with the Merkle model to analyze this flow in a venturi setup.

The authors highlight that cloud cavitating flow can lead to detrimental effects including vibration, noise, and erosion damage. The research utilizes the Adaptive Mesh Refinement (AMR) technique to enhance computational efficiency while investigating vortex development mechanisms within the venturi. Key findings indicate that velocity gradients and the generalized fluid element significantly influence vortex formation throughout the cavitation cycle.

Furthermore, the study examines the coupling between cavitation and turbulence on a local scale, comparing results with high-fidelity experimental data. While the AMR method effectively predicts time-averaged velocities and turbulence characteristics near the venturi throat, it shows limitations in accuracy further downstream due to coarser grid refinement. The authors note that the AMR approach struggles to replicate the cavity width observed in experiments, suggesting that while AMR can expedite calculations, it may not yet match the precision of traditional grid simulations for cavitating flows.

This research provides a reference point for future studies aiming to utilize AMR in simulating turbulence-cavitation interactions accurately, which could have implications for improving the design and operation of hydraulic machinery.

For further details, the paper can be accessed at arXiv:2409.02369.