Cavitation Effect on the Discharge Coefficient of the Sharp-Edged Orifice Plate

The object of this paper is to investigate the effects of cavitation on the discharge coefficient of sharp-edged orifice plates with reference to various degrees of cavitation as defined by a cavitation number. The experimental data described in this paper substantiate the fact that cavitation can exist to a minimum cavitation number of 0.2 without introducing errors in the orifice discharge coefficient in excess of the normal expected accuracy. In addition to this, it was found that the use of air-inhalation to suppress the vibration and noise from the cavitation had no effect on the discharge coefficient.