NUMERICAL VERSUS EXPERIMENTAL CAVITATION TUNNEL - (A SUPERCAVITATING HYDROFOIL EXPERIMENT)

A supercavitating hydrofoil experiment is performed at the MIT Variabl e Pressure water tunnel, at several angles of attack and cavitation nu mbers. The velocity is measured on a rectangular contour surrounding t he foil and cavity as well as in the vicinity of the cavity surface. T he measurements are compared to the predicted results from a nonlinear cavity analysis method in which the effects of the tunnel walls are i ncluded via images. Forces are inferred from momentum integrations of the measured velocities and compared to those predicted from the analy sis.