A POTENTIAL-BASED PANEL METHOD FOR THE ANALYSIS OF A 2-DIMENSIONAL SUPER-CAVITATING OR PARTIALLY-CAVITATING HYDROFOIL

A potential-based panel method is presented for the analysis of a super- or partially-cavitating two-dimensional hydrofoil. The method employs normal dipoles and sources distributed on the foil and cavity surfaces. It is shown that the source plays an important role in positioning the cavity surface through an iterative process. The cavity closure condition is found very effective in generating the cavity shape. Upon convergence, the method predicts the cavitation number together with the lift, drag, and surface pressure distribution for a given cavity length. Systematic convergence tests of the present numerical method show fast and stable characteristics. Good correlations are obtained with existing theories and experimental results for both partially- and supercavitating flows.