LES-VOF SIMULATIONS OF A PURE WATER JET DEVELOPING INSIDE AN AWJC NOZZLE: PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS AND GUIDELINES

peer reviewedIn this work, a numerical approach to predict the behavior of a pure water jet developing inside a nozzle for Abrasive Water Jet Cutting (AWJC) is investigated. In a standard AWJC configuration, the water jet carries the major energy content of the entire system, and is responsible for accelerating abrasive particles that will perform the cutting action of hard materials. Therefore an accurate simulation of a pure water jet can bring significant insight on the overall AWJC process. Capturing the behavior of a multiphase high-speed flow in a complex geometry is however particularly challenging. In this work, we adopt a combined approach based on the Volume of Fluid (VOF) and Large Eddy Simulation (LES) techniques in order to respectively capture the water/air interface and to model turbulent structures of the flow. The aim of this contribution is to investigate how the two techniques apply to the specific problem, and to offer general guidelines for practitioners willing to adopt them. Costs considerations will be then presented with particular reference to the usage of the OpenFOAM® environment. The reported results are meant to provide guidance for AWJ applications and future developments of AWJ nozzles.Luxdem.AWJCNozzl