Experimental and numerical studies on the cavitation over flat hydrofoils with and without obstacle

Abstract

To control the shedding of cavitation, an obstacle is placed on the surface of a flat hydrofoil. Both experimental and numerical studies are carried out. Images of cavitation evolution are recorded by a high-speed camera. 3-D simulations are performed to investigate the cavitating flows around the hydrofoil. The results show that the re-entrant jet plays an important role during the process of cavitation shedding. A kind of U-type shedding is identified during the evolution of the cloud cavitation. The length of the cavity is apparently reduced due to the placement of the obstacle. It is interesting to find that the cavitation shedding changes from the large-scale mode to a small-scale mode, as an obstacle is placed on the hydrofoil surface. As we can observe from both experimental and numerical results, the small-scale cavitation shedding dominates the cavitating flow dynamics, we thereby conclude that the placement of an obstacle is favorable for the inhibition of cavitation shedding.