Scale Effects in Cavitating Flow

Author: Parkin, Blaine Raphael

Year: 1952

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Plesset, Milton S.

Committee Member: Unknown, Unknown

Option: Aeronautics; Mathematics

DOI: 10.7907/DWKE-J388

Abstract

Scale effects in cavitating flow are considered for the so-called limited cavitation flow regime. The roles of nuclei and air diffusion in ordinary water and the kinetic theory of liquids for pure water are considered as to their bearing on cavitation scale effects.

The attack on the problem is concentrated in three general areas. First, dynamic similarity considerations for individual bubble growth show that no useful scaling laws can be established from such arguments. Aside from changes due to Reynolds number, it is concluded that scale effects are dependent upon the time required for a nucleus to grow from its original microscopic size to a macroscopic size. Second, a series of experiments shows that the cavitation behaves in a systematic way as the scale of the immersed body is changed. In certain instances, the inception of cavitation depends on both model size and free stream velocity. Third, a theoretical study is made to gain insight into the relationships that must hold between the parameters which affect the inception of cavitation. A simplified theory gives only rough qualitative agreement with experiment.

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