Large Eddy Simulation of Cavitating Multiphase Flows for Liquid Injection

Abstract : This paper presents a numerical method for modelling a compressible multiphase flow that involves phase transition between liquid and vapour in the context of gasoline injection. A discontinuous compressible two fluid mixture based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) implementation is employed to represent the phases of liquid, vapour and air. The mass transfer between phases is modelled by standard models such as Kunz or Schnerr-Sauer but including the presence of air in the gas phase. Turbulence is modelled using a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) approach to catch instationnarities and coherent structures. Eventually the modelling approach matches favourably experimental data concerning the effect of cavitation on atomisation process.