Studies of the Flow Characteristics of a Compressible, Bubbly Mixture about Supercavitating Bodies and in a Converging-Diverging Nozzle

Abstract

Experimental studies have been made to determine the effect of a compressible, air-water mixture on the drag characteristics of a cavitating body. Data are reported for a series of conical bodies of various slenderness ratios for free stream Mach numbers up to 0.7. Results indicate that the drag coefficient increases with Mach number, although in general not as rapidly as for a non-cavitating body. It was possible to apply Gothert's rule to adequately predict the drag coefficient up to Mach numbers of about 0.6. A brief study was also conducted to study the flow characteristics of an air-water mixture in a converging-diverging nozzle. Supersonic flow was obtained and shock waves were observed downstream of the throat. Measured throat pressures for choked flow were somewhat higher than those calculated from homogeneous mixture theory.