Theoretical analysis of cavitation in inducers with unequal blades with alternate leading edge cutback: Part II - Effects of the amount of cutback

In Part I, it was found that the alternate blade cutback of the leading edg e causes a peculiar behavior in the development of steady cavitation. A sta bility analysis showed that the alternate blade cutback can reduce the onse t region of rotating cavitation by enhancing the stability of alternate bla de cavitation. In this report, we examine the effects of the amount of cutb ack. It was found that the development of steady cavity is significantly di fferent depending on the amount of cutback. Those steady cavity development s are explained by the interaction of local flow near the cavity closure wi th the leading edge of the opposing blade just in the same way as for the d evelopment of alternate blade cavitation. It is also shown that the range o f cavitation number with stable cavitation can be increased by increasing t he amount of cutback. [S0098-2202(00)00502-2].