3. Cavitation

3.1 Theoretical considerations

Cavitation is a highly complex and difficult-to-control phenomenon, well known to hydraulics and hydrodynamics specialists. To put the problem into perspective, let's take a brief look at cavitation in marine propellers.

Schematically, if the pressure in a liquid falls below the vapour pressure p _v of the liquid, the latter tends to vaporize in the form of small bubbles that grow in size, or even form vapour pockets.

In the marine sector, and more specifically for propellers, this phenomenon is extremely annoying, as it causes erosion, loss of performance, noise and vibration.

For a body placed in a flow, there is a relationship between...