Some Cavitation Experiments with Dilute Polymer Solutions

Experiments on fully developed cavity flows were carried out with the prime initial objective of investigating the effects of the addition of small quantities of 'turbulent drag reducing additive' upon the cavity-surface boundary-layer instability and transition reported in the previous paper (Brennen 1970). However, in most instances, the additives were found to cause an unforeseen instability in the wetted surface flow around the headform. Upon convection, the resulting disturbances dramatically disfigured the cavity surface, thus negating the original purpose. This new phenomenon warranted investigation and became the principal subject of this paper.