Numerical research of lateral flow influence on supercavitating flow

Abstract

In this paper, a recompiled multiphase flow solver, which introduced the lateral flow source into the code, is developed to investigate the effect of the lateral flow on the supercavitation phenomenon. The evolution of the supercavity profile and the resistance of the vehicle under different lateral flow speeds are studied. The results show that the recompiled solver can calculate the effect of the lateral flow on the supercavitation, and the influence of lateral flow on the supercavity is related to the speed of the counter flow. Under the same lateral flow velocity, the higher the convection velocity, the weaker the influence of lateral flow on the cavity profile and resistance. When the lateral flow velocity is less than 8% of the convection velocity, the effect of the lateral flow on the supercavity size and the resistance of the vehicle can be ignored. As the lateral flow strengthens, the supercavity will deform and even break and the resistance of the vehicle increases significantly. After removing the source of the lateral flow, the cavity re-grows again and forms a huge supercavity, which is much larger than the original one before introducing the velocity source. Then, the cavity gradually shrinks and reaches a new steady state.