Compressibility Effects on Bubbly Water Flows Past a Supercavitating Wedge

Abstract

The compressibility effects on bubbly water flows in comparison with those on compressible pure water flows past a steady two-dimensional supercavitating wedge are clarified by a local linearization technique which preserves the local features of the flow field with unified approach and higher accuracy than the former linearized one. The range of freestream Mach numbers is clearly defined for the subsonic, transonic and supersonic bubbly water flows. The clarifications of pressure waves in supersonic bubbly water flows are given. In purely subsonic flows the cavity drag is shown to be smaller while the cavity length is larger than that in compressible pure water. In transonic and purely low supersonic flows both cavity drag and length are shown to be less than those in compressible pure water and depend substantially on the air contents.