Steady-State Cavity Studies in a Free-Jet Water Tunnel

A water tunnel with a 10-in. diameter test stream directed vertically downward through an air-filled chamber of variable pressure (free jet) has been used to study steady-state cavities. The low ambient pressures available in the free jet permitted cavitation studies in a range of σ = 0.01 to 0.30 on selected conical, spherical, and disk-headed bodies. This report describes certain characteristics of the steady-state cavities created by the selected bodies including cavity shape, internal pressures, and re-entrant internal jets. The cavity data are compared with related work by Reichardt.