Abstract
The objective of this study is to clarify causes of inability of homogeneous models to predict breakdown characteristics of cavitating hydrofoil accurately. Theoretical analysis shows that the present cavitation models inevitably cause kinetic energy loss through expansion and contraction of the media. To illustrate this fact, we computed cavitating flows in a venturi and around a hydrofoil (NACA0015) with a homogeneous model and investigated the computed flow field in detail. It is shown that the expansion and contraction of the media based on the homogeneous model do in fact cause kinetic energy loss and as a result, a region of low velocity appears downstream of the cavity. This results in a decrease of lift force in a partial cavitation condition, which is not observed in the corresponding measurements.[This abstract is not included in the PDF]
