Analysis of sheet cavitating flow structures by numerical and experimental studies

The structure of sheet cavitating flow around a hydrofoil was investigated by coupled experimental and numerical methods. A high-speed camera was used to visualize the flow structures, and Laser Doppler Velocity (LDV) was employed for velocity measurement. The results demonstrate that the sheet cavity is typically thin and has a series of sharp thin "fingers". As the cavitation number is reduced the cavitating region grows and becomes increasingly unstable, companying with the shedding of small cavitating vortices. Basically, the predicted cavitation phenomena coincide with those observed in the experiment for a hydrofoil. It indicates that the flowing model and computing method are reliable.