A Possible Criterion for Cavitation Inception on Hemispherical Headforms

Abstract

The present paper reviews several pertinent papers about the onset of bubble-ring cavitation on hemispherical headforms in which a laminar bubble is present. From this review, a likely sequence of events for cavitation inception, or desinence, can be discerned. When this sequence is postulated, the observational basis for each event is discussed. Once the physical aspects of the inception process have been noted, a mathematical formulation of key relationships required to establish an inception criterion can be undertaken. From these results, a quantitative criterion for the inception of bubble ring cavitation is stated and we give a discussion which interprets this possible inception criterion for future use. The use of this criterion in a theory of inception and a comparison of analytical and experimental results is left to a future publication.