Numerical Visualization of Air Intake Induced by Free Surface Vortex

Free surface vortex control is vital in a pump sump system because the air absorbed by free surface vortex induc- es noise, vibration, and cavitation corrosion on the pumping system. In this study, the change of free surface vor- tex and air absorption in a pump intake has been investigated by the Volume of Fraction （VOF） method with steady multiphase flow model in order to represent the behavior of the free surface vortex exactly. The homoge- neous free surface model is used to apply interactions of air and water. The results show that air intake by the free surface vortex motion can be visualized using the iso-surface of air volume fraction. The vortices make an air column from the free surface to the pump intake. Also, it was found that the flee surface vortex can be controlled by installing curtain walls.