New method for predicting the incipient cavitation index by means of single-phase computational fluid dynamics model:

Due to its serious consequences, cavitation in pipeline systems is one of the main concerns of engineers. In this context, the incipient cavitation index defined in many international standards such as those from International Society of Automation and International Electrotechnical Commission is a very important parameter as it accounts for the onset of cavitation. However, the standards define only the experimental determination of the incipient cavitation index, which is furthermore difficult to perform due to the considerable technical and economical burden of the experimental tests, above all in case of large-size systems. In this work, we propose a new method for predicting the incipient cavitation index by means of computational fluid dynamics, avoiding the need of making any experiment. The method is based on the generalized pressure criterion and requires only one Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes simulation of single-phase incompressible flow to provide estimates of the incipient cavitation index....