Design approach for cavitation tolerant hydrofoils and blades

Cavitation inception and growth on conventional shape hydrofoils and blades leads initially to a jump of their flow-induced noise, further to an amplification of flow-induced vibration with frequently assisted erosion and finally, to a lift/thrust decrease combined with the drag increase. These undesirable cavitation effects can be mitigated or even suppressed for stable partial cavities experiencing no tail pulsations. A design approach enhancing performance of cavitating hydrofoils/blades by maintaining stable partial cavities is described. Experimental data manifesting an increase of hydrofoil lift with reduction of its drag and of force pulsations by such design are provided. Application of this design approach to propeller/turbine blades and advantages of its employment for blades operating in non-uniform incoming flows are analyzed. The possibility of an increase of the lift to drag ratio and of a reduction of the cavity volume oscillation in gust flows for blade sections is numerically manifested.