Change in Cavitation Regime on NACA0015 Hydrofoil by Heating the Hydrofoil Surface

Abstract

An experimental study of cavitating flow on a heated NACA0015 hydrofoil was conducted in a cavitation tunnel to investigate the influence of the hydrofoil surface temperature on the cavitating flow. The cavitation behavior under different heating conditions was examined using high-speed video, and an image processing method was used to obtain the periodic characteristics of the cavitating flow. The results revealed that attached sheet cavitation and supercavitation occurred on both heated and unheated hydrofoils. However, sheet-cloud cavitation was observed only on the unheated hydrofoil, whereas transient cavitation was observed only on the heated hydrofoil. Transient cavitation also exhibited periodic growth/collapse behavior; however, there was no shedding of a large vapor cloud. Moreover, with a further increase in the hydrofoil surface temperature, transient cavitation turned into open-type cavitation. The cavitating flow exhibited a quasi-steady cavity length with an open cavity closure. It was considered that the surface temperature promoted vapor generation at the cavity leading edge, which enlarged the vapor-filled fore part of the sheet cavity. This enlarged sheet cavity prevented the reentrant flow from moving upstream and thus turned the cavity closure into an open type. Once the cavity closure turned into an open type, the local disturbance led to a smaller adverse pressure gradient, which was not sufficiently strong to create a reentrant flow. In this case, if the vapor generation at the cavity leading edge was sufficiently large to reach a balance with vapor condensation at the open cavity closure, the cavity would be steady.