The influence of surface tension on cavitating flow past a curved obstacle

Abstract

The problem of cavitating flow past a two-dimensional curved obstacle is considered. Surface tension is included in the dynamic boundary condition. A perturbation solution for small values of the surface tension is presented. It is found that the position of the separation points is uniquely determined by specifying the value of the Weber number and the contact angle at the separation points. In addition, for a given value of the Weber number there exists a particular position of the separation points for which the slope is continuous. This solution tends to the classical solution satisfying the Brillouin–Villat condition as the surface tension tends to zero. Graphs of the results for the cavitating flow past a circular cylinder are presented.