Effects of Dissolved Gas on Unsteady Cavitating Flow Around a Clark Y-11.7% Hydrofoil

In the present study, the effects of dissolved gas content on the unsteady cavitating flow around a Clark Y-11.7% hydrofoil are investigated in a cavitation tunnel. Lift and drag forces in various cavitating conditions are directly measured by strain gauges attached on the cantilever supporting the hydrofoil. In addition, the cavitating flow is filmed from the top and the side simultaneously using two high speed video cameras. The high (roughly 6–8ppm) and low (1–2ppm) DO conditions are examined to obtain the qualitative tendencies of the effects of dissolved gas on unsteady cavitation behavior and lift/drag characteristics. It is found that that the relationship between the cavitation behavior and the lift/drag fluctuations does not qualitatively differ in the two different DO conditions, while the amplitude is slightly larger in the low DO condition. At transitional cavity oscillation, in the both DO conditions, the lift/drag coefficients increase during the growth stage of sheet/bubble cavities on the hydrofoil and they decrease when the developed super-cavity disappears. Moreover, it seems that the amplitude of the lift/drag forces in the low DO condition is larger than in the high DO condition but the frequency of lift force fluctuation is not very different.