Experimental study on the flow pattern and pressure fluctuation characteristics of ventilated cavitating flows around a conical axisymmetric body at high Froude number

This paper is based on a circulating water tunnel, employing high-speed photography and pressure sensors to measure the flow characteristics of the ventilated cavity around a conical axisymmetric body. The focus of the discussion is on the flow characteristics of ventilated cavities at high Froude numbers and the pressure evolution on the axisymmetric body surface for different cavity shapes. The research results indicate that under high Froude numbers, gravity effects can be neglected, and ventilated cavities around the conical axisymmetric body exhibit three typical flow patterns: foamy cavity (FC), intermittent and transparent cavity (ITC), and continuous and transparent cavity (CTC). Among these, FC cavities are found within a small ventilation rate range, accompanied by some small-scale cavity shedding at cavity’s trailing. The transient pressure distribution on the axisymmetric body surface exhibits high-frequency, low-amplitude fluctuations, with the maximum pressure coefficient fluctuation amplitude of 0.18. ITC cavities represent a transitional flow pattern between FC and CTC, characterized by the shedding of large-scale cavity clusters from the cavity’s trailing, resulting in low-frequency, high-amplitude fluctuations in the transient pressure distribution on the axisymmetric body surface, with a maximum pressure coefficient fluctuation amplitude of 0.49. CTC cavities are observed within a large ventilation rate range, exhibiting similar characteristics in cavity shedding and pressure pulsation to ITC cavities. Under specific Froude numbers, during the transition from FC to CTC, the pressure on the axisymmetric body surface at different measurement points exhibits a trend of initially decreasing, then increasing, and finally stabilizing.