Experimental study of bubble cavitation on a NACA 0015 hydrofoil by a computer vision approach

The present study aims to investigate the fundamental dynamics of cavitation through an experimental approach. The study involves developing and testing a computer vision technique to measure the critical characteristics of a cavitation state. The experimental campaign was designed to investigate the dynamics of bubble cavitation developing on a NACA 0015 hydrofoil. The hydrofoil was tested under working conditions with an angle of attack of zero and a flow velocity of V=8[m/s]. The experiments were performed for several cavitation numbers, acquiring a dataset of high-speed videos for each. These videos were analysed using the methodology presented to extract quantitative data that described the observed cavitation state. The article describes each phase of the developed technique in detail, illustrating step by step the solutions adopted to solve the problems faced. The analyses’ results highlight the potential of this approach. Indeed, the characteristic features of the cavitation conditions were measured with high accuracy. These quantities are difficult to access using the techniques commonly used to observe cavitation. The results provide valuable insight for an in-depth understanding of the cavitation phenomenon and the detrimental effects it generates.