Numerical Investigation of Cavitation Reduction Around a 2D Hydrofoil by Water Injection Using the VOF Method and LES Turbulence Model

Ebrahimi, Yasin; Motazakkeri, Soheil; Mahdavi, Amirmehran; Alavi, Ali; Roohi, Ehsan

doi:10.22034/jsst.2025.1568

Numerical Investigation of Cavitation Reduction Around a 2D Hydrofoil by Water Injection Using the VOF Method and LES Turbulence Model

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Yasin Ebrahimi ¹

Soheil Motazakkeri ¹

Amirmehran Mahdavi ²

Ali Alavi ³

Ehsan Roohi ⁴

¹ Department of Aerospace Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran

² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran

³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

⁴ Department of Aerospace Engineering, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida, United States

10.22034/jsst.2025.1568

Abstract

This article focuses on the mitigation of cavitation in fluid flow under specified velocity conditions. A Clark-Y hydrofoil with a 70 mm chord length is designed to emulate a fish-gill-inspired configuration aimed at suppressing unsteady cavitation phenomena. Jet injection with a velocity of 0.5 𝑈∞ is implemented at 15% and 60% of the chord length on the hydrofoil surface under an 8-degree angle of attack. The jet is aligned parallel to the mainstream flow. The flow is modeled using the multiphase implicit volume of fluid (VOF) method coupled with the large eddy simulation (LES) turbulence model to accurately capture the transient behavior of cavitating flow. Simulations are performed at a cavitation number of σ = 0.8 and a Reynolds number of 7 × 10⁵. The numerical findings demonstrate that jet injection effectively stabilizes the cavity shedding process and reduces the amplitude of pressure fluctuations on the hydrofoil surface. The injection at 15% chord length not only decreases cavity length but also delays the onset of cloud cavitation, resulting in a smoother pressure recovery and enhanced hydrodynamic performance. In contrast, injection at 60% chord length provides localized suppression of trailing-edge cavitation without significantly affecting leading-edge dynamics. Overall, the study highlights the capability of controlled jet injection as an efficient passive method for mitigating unsteady cavitation and improving flow stability around hydrofoils.

Keywords

Injection

Hydrofoil Clark-Y

Cloud cavitation

VOF model

LES turbulence

Subjects

Mechanical Engineering

Article Title Persian

بررسی عددی کاهش کاویتاسیون در اطراف یک هیدروفویل دوبعدی با تزریق آب با استفاده از روش VOF و مدل آشفتگی LES

Author Persian

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