Thermal Cavitation Experiments on a NACA 0015 Hydrofoil

The present paper illustrates the main results of an experimental campaign conducted in the Thermal Cavitation Tunnel of the CPRTF (Cavitating Pump Rotordynamic Test Facility) at Centrospazio. Experiments were carried out on a NACA 0015 hydrofoil at various incidence angles, cavitation numbers and freestream temperatures, in order to investigate the characteristics of cavitation instabilities and the impact of thermal cavitation effects. Measured cavity length, surface pressure coefficients and unsteady pressure spectra are in good agreement with the data available in the open literature and suggest the existence of a strong correlation between the onset of the various forms of cavitation and instabilities, the thermal cavitation effects, and the effects induced by the presence of the walls of the tunnel. Further analytical investigations will be carried out in order to provide a better interpretation of the above results.