Wake and cavitation characteristics of equilateral prisms at incidence

The characteristics of flow past a two-dimensional equilateral prism are experimentally studied at different angles of incidence to the approach flow. Tests were conducted in a water tunnel suitable for cavitation studies. The presence of cavitation facilitated excellent visual observations of the wake region. The mean separation pressure coefficients and the vortex-shedding frequency were determined at various degrees of cavitation for five different orientations of the prism. The latter determines, to a large extent, the vibration characteristics of the system in which the prismatic elements are located.