Experimental Investigation of Ventilated Cavity Flow over a Wall Mounted Fence

Ventilated cavity flow over a 3-D wall mounted fence is experimentally investigated in a cavitation tunnel. The influence of air ventilation rate, fence height based Froude number and vapour pressure based cavitation number on the resulting cavity and associated drag coefficient is determined. Three different flow regimes are identified throughout the range of cavitation numbers for a constant set of free-stream conditions. The geometry of a fully formed ventilated cavity is described. The re-entrant jet cavity closure is observed as the primary mechanism for entrainment of ventilated air into the flow.