Comparison of different mathematical models of cavitation

Abstract

Cavitation occurs during the flow when local pressure drops to the saturation pressure according to the temperature of the flow. It includes both evaporation and condensation of the vapor bubbles, which occur alternately with high frequency. Cavitation can be very dangerous, especially for pumps, because it leads to break of flow continuity, noise, vibration, erosion of blades and change in pump’s characteristics. Therefore it is very important for pump designers and users to avoid working in cavitation conditions. Simulation of flow can be very useful in that and can indicate if there is risk of cavitating flow occurrence. As this is a multiphase flow and quite complicated phenomena, there are a few mathematical models describing it. The aim of this paper is to make a short review of them and describe their approach to model cavitation. It is desirable to know differences between them to model this phenomenon properly.