Cavitation

Abstract

Generation of cavitation causes detrimental effects such as loss of thrust, noise & vibration and erosion on marine propellers. Prediction of the inception and the amount is important for designing propellers. The modelling, analysis and computation method of cavitation are reviewed for hydrofoils and marine propellers, i.e. linearized theory, non-linear models and analyses using Navier-Stokes equations. The modelling of leading as well as trailing edge regions of the cavitation is discussed in detail, where characteristics of the boundary layer along the hydrofoil become important and the viscous effect on the cavitation should be considered.