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A three-component model based on mass transfer equation is proposed to simulate both the natural and ventilated cavitations. In the present cavitation model, the content of nuclei in the local flow field is updated synchronously, and is coupled with the Rayleigh–Plesset equation so as to capture the cavity development. The proposed model is applied for simulating the cavitating flow around a super-cavitating vehicle in different cavitation conditions. In the case of the natural cavitation simulation, the predicted cavitation characteristics including the cavity length and cavity diameter agrees fairly well with the analytical results. In the case of the mixed cavitation simulation, the gas ventilation obviously influences the development of cavity. With the increase of the gas ventilated rate, the natural cavitation is suppressed remarkably, and a super cavitation is formed even at a relatively larger natural cavitation number.

A thermodynamic cavitation model is developed to simulate the cavitating water flow in a wide temperature range. The thermal effect on bubble growth during cavitation is introduced in the developed model by considering both pressure difference and heat transfer between the vapor and liquid phase. The cavitating turbulent flow over a NACA0015 hydrofoil has been simulated at various temperatures from room temperature to 150°C by using the present cavitation model, which has been validated by the experimental data. It is seen that the thermodynamic effects of cavitation, vapor depression and temperature depression are much more predominant in high temperature water compared with those in room temperature water. These results indicate that the proposed thermodynamic cavitation model is reasonably applicable to the cavitating water flow in a wide temperature range.