Author Description

<p>3D single-fluid volume of fluid (VoF) CFD methods are assessed for cloud and string cavitation in hydraulic components. These aggressive cavitation types often induce erosion and are associated with turbulent structures, so that for high-pressure injection, they determine primary breakup behavior of the jet. Two single-fluid VoF methods, based on the homogeneous mixture approach, are tailored to investigate erosion and primary breakup in OpenFOAM and applied to three example test cases. A density-based flow solver with a thermodynamic equilibrium cavitation model captures shock wave dynamics in order to study erosion-sensitive wall zones. A pressure-based, three-phase flow solver has been developed for scale resolving turbulence simulation and direct resolution of primary ligaments, modeling cavitation and free surfaces in a single simulation with the VoF method. Erosion is analyzed either by a statistical evaluation of a multitude of single collapsing voids or by condensation rate statistics at wall cell faces, yielding an erosion probability.Firstly, erosion-sensitive wall zones are investigated for cloud cavitation on a hydrofoil with circular leading edge. Secondly, the internal flow of heavy fuel oil in two maritime high-pressure injector nozzles is studied for the assessment of erosion zones. Finally, cavitating in-nozzle flow and primary breakup are studied for a ballistic injection cycle of a close-to-production Diesel injector.The single-fluid VoF approach is efficient and capable of investigating a plethora of cavitating flow problems in hydraulic components as demonstrated by the three test cases.However, possible enhancements of these methods are pointed out; e.g., more accurate turbulence and cavitation modeling by easing of the made assumptions.<br></p>