Incipient and desinent cavitation on hemispherical nosed bodies

Abstract

Ship propellers and other devices which suffer from cavitation, are usually made of hydrophilic materials. The same applies to propeller models made for cavitation experiments in a water tunnel. The results of such experiments are subject to scale effects and often large dispersions occur. To investigate the parameters which are responsible for these effects in the case of hydrophilic materials, incipient and desinent cavitation were determined in a high speed cavitation tunnel, using a series of stainless steel, hemispherical nosed bodies. The experiments covered a wide range of flow velocities and air contents of the water.