Implementation of phase change thermodynamic probability for unsteady simulation of cavitating flows

The aim of this work is to investigate the non‐equilibrium effects of phase change in cavitating flows. For this purpose, the concept of phase change thermodynamic probability is used along with homogeneous model to simulate two‐phase cavitating flows. For simulation of unsteady behaviors of cavitation, which have practical applications, unsteady PISO algorithm based on the non‐conservative approach is utilized. For multi‐phase simulation, single‐fluid Navier–Stokes equations, along with the volume fraction transport equation, are employed. In this paper, phase change thermodynamics probabilities and cavitation model is briefly summarized. Thus, derivation of the cavitation model, starting from the basic thermodynamic equations to the mass and momentum conservation equations at a liquid–vapor two‐phase flow, is presented to explain the numerical model. Unsteady simulations of cavitation around a flat plate normal to flow direction are presented to clarify the accuracy of the model. The accuracy of the numerical results is good, and it is possible to apply this method to more complex geometries. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.