A Linear Stability Analysis of Cavitation in a Finite Blade Count Impeller

Abstract

The linear stability analysis of cavitation in flat plate cascades corresponding to 2, 3, 4, and 5-bladed impeller was carried out to clarify the effect of the blade count on cavitation instabilities. Each blade is treated independently so that all possible modes in those impellers can be found. In steady flow analysis the alternate blade cavitation was found only for impellers with even number of blades. For 2 or 4-bladed impeller, it was confirmed that there exists no additional destabilizing mode to those found in the previous analysis in which the inter-blade phase difference of disturbance was assumed. It was shown that the modes with total cavity volume fluctuation depend on the inlet duct length while the modes without total cavity volume fluctuation are independent on the system. [S0098-2202(00)01304-3]