The Influence of Gas Nuclei Size Distribution on Transient Cavitation Near Inception

Abstract

This report concerns research on the problem of transient cavitation on hydrodynamic bodies near inception conditions. A probabilistic model of the process is presented. The experimental apparatus for providing the bubble size distribution, which is a necessary input to the probabilistic model, is described. An acoustic cavitation occurrence counting system that can be used to check on the output of the probabilistic model is also described. Experiments conducted on a half body in a 6-inch water tunnel test system achieved fair agreement between the predictions of the probabilistic model and the measurements by the occurrence counting technique in some cases.