On the formulation of the problem of the motion of a body in water

The selection of solutions describing steady irrotational flow of an ideal incompressible fluid over bodies is considered. The selection is based on restrictions that follow from the physical properties of a real fluid and from the presence of a boundary layer on the body. In particular, for any body one can specify a minimal Euler number below which flow without cavitation becomes physically impossible. In the limiting case of an Euler number equal to zero, only the Kirchhoff scheme is physical admissible, and the cavity section tends to a circle. An equation is derived for the limiting shapes of cavities at small cavitation numbers, and a comparison is made with known results.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No. 5, pp. 19–26, September–October, 1980.