23rd International
Towing Tank Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II
Conference
The Specialist Committee on
Cavitation Induced Pressures
Final Report and Recommendations to the 23rd ITTC
1. MEMBERSHIP AND MEETINGS
1.1. Members
The membership of the Specialist Com-
mittee on Cavitation Induced Pressure Fluc-
tuations includes:
ƒ Prof. Poul Andersen, Section of Mari-
time Engineering, Dept. of Mechanical
Engineering, Technical University of
Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.
ƒ Prof. Göran Bark, SSPA Maritime
Consulting AB and Chalmers University
of Technology, Göteborg, Sweden.
ƒ Dr. Bong Jun Chang, Hyundai Heavy
Industries Co., Ltd., Maritime Research
Institute, Ulsan, Korea.
ƒ Dr. Fabio Di Felice, Italian Ship Model
Basin (INSEAN), Circulating Water
Channel, Rome, Italy.
ƒ Mr. Jürgen Friesch (Chairman), Ham-
burg Ship Model Basin (HSVA), Ham-
burg, Germany.
ƒ Dr. Ki-Han Kim (Secretary), Naval Sur-
face Warfare Center, (formerly David
Taylor Model Basin), West Bethesda,
USA.
ƒ Dr. Noriyuki Sasaki, Sumitomo Heavy
Industries Ltd., Hydrodynamics Group,
Ship Design Dept., Yokosuka, Japan.
417
1.2. Date and Venue of Meetings
Four formal meetings of the Committee
were held as noted:
ƒ Hamburg, Germany, February 3-4, 2000
at HSVA, the Hamburg Ship Model Ba-
sin, hosted by Mr. J. Friesch.
ƒ Rome, Italy, November 29-30, 2000 at
INSEAN, hosted by Dr. F. Di Felice.
ƒ Pasadena, USA, June 18-19, 2001, in
conjunction with the CAV 2001 Confer-
ence, hosted by Dr. K.-H. Kim.
ƒ Tokyo, Japan, October 30 - November
2, 2001 at Sumitomo Heavy Industries,
hosted by Dr. N. Sasaki.
1.3. Members Attending the Meetings
All members attended the first, second and
third meetings. All members except Prof.
Bark and Dr. Di Felice attended the fourth
meeting.
2. RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
22ND ITTC
The recommendations for the work of this
Specialist Committee as given by the 22nd
ITTC were as follows.
Develop and validate practical experimen-
tal and numerical prediction procedures for
unsteady hull pressure, including the method

418 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
using propeller cavitation volume time-
variation.
Procedures should use format defined in
the Manual of ITTC Recommended Proce-
dures and should be included in the Commit-
tee report as separate appendices. Symbols
and terminology (SaT) should agree with
those in the 1999 ITTC SaT list; if necessary,
new symbols should be proposed.
3. INTRODUCTION
Cavitation research continues around the
world not only in research and development
organizations but also to a large extent at edu-
cational institutions. Cavitation phenomena
consist of a complex combination of fluid dy-
namics and bubble/cavity mechanics, and are
therefore by nature unsteady, unstable and sto-
chastic. The major ITTC-related cavitation
interests are analytical prediction, model-scale
experimentation and full-scale scaling of de-
veloped cavitation patterns and the resulting
unsteady hull pressure fluctuations and noise.
Much of this work is documented via the
many international conferences on cavitation
held almost annually (22nd ITTC, 1999).
The performance specification for a mod-
ern propeller nowadays includes a limitation
on maximum levels of hull excitation pres-
sures and/or forces. Those levels should not
be exceeded in order to achieve acceptable
levels of vibration. In practice, this require-
ment can vary from a simple statement to a
very detailed specification with clearly de-
fined pressure or force levels. Based on ex-
perience, several recommended blade-rate
single-point pressure amplitude standards
have been proposed (15th ITTC, 1978; Wil-
son, 1991; Friesch, 2000). It is difficult to
agree on a widely accepted standard. The
main reason is that the peak level of pressure
alone cannot be used as a reliable indicator,
without taking into account the response
properties of the hull. The increasing demand
for low-noise ships − fast cruise liners, fast
23rd International
Towing Tank
Conference
ROPAX-ferries and other high-speed vessels
with speeds up to 35 knots with propellers −
makes it necessary to improve the prediction
methods further, especially for higher-order
pressures and noise. This also holds true for
the fast, very large POSTPANMAX contain-
erships.
The principal source of forced excitation
occurring in modern ships is the partially
cavitating propeller, characterized by sheet
cavitation in the upper half of the propeller
disk and by strong, developed tip vortex cavi-
tation (see Figure 3.1), the latter becoming
more and more the dominant noise and vibra-
tion source (Friesch, 2000; Kuiper, 2001).
Figure 3.1 Full-scale sheet and tip vortex
cavitation.
In general, the excitation caused by a pro-
peller operating in the nonuniform wake field
behind a ship consists of two parts.
(i) Forces and moments on the propeller
blades are transmitted to the hull structure
via the stern-tube bearing and thrust block
(referred to as shaft forces or bearing
forces).
(ii) Forces acting on the hull plating resulting
from surface pressures induced by blade
loading, blade thickness and pulsating
cavitation. In case of a pulsating, bursting
tip vortex, these forces act over a large
frequency range and are therefore very
difficult to handle from the structural side
of a ship design.
 23rd International
Towing Tank Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II
Conference
Under noncavitating conditions, excitation
forces from (i) and (ii) are generally of the
same order of magnitude. However, when the
propeller cavitates − mainly with developed
sheet cavitation − the contribution from (ii)
becomes dominant. The resultant hull excita-
tion force can be many times greater still, due
to reductions in phase angle difference be-
tween different locations of the excitation. In
the past it has been shown that skew can re-
duce hull fluctuating pressures by more than
50%. The trend of modern propeller design
toward high skew and unloaded blade tips has
succeeded in reducing the pressure amplitudes
in general, but is often considered to cause a
rise in pressure pulses of higher order. An ex-
planation can be found in the occurrence of
less, but fluctuating, sheet cavitation and –
sometimes – strong and bursting tip vortex
cavitation.
One of the continuing main topics in cavi-
tation research is unsteady sheet cavitation. In
the past, a sheet cavity has been considered to
be one vapor volume attached to the propeller
blade. But it is now known (Kuiper, 2001)
that the inner structure of sheet cavitation is
very dynamic, mainly as a result of the re-
entrant jet which disturbs the edge of the sheet
cavity and the tip vortex structure.
The pressure fluctuations generated by a
fluctuating sheet cavity mainly occur at blade
frequency or multiples, sometimes up to three
or even five times the blade rate. A heavily
cavitating tip vortex tends to produce broad-
band excitation.
But the physical mechanism leading to
pressure pulses at higher blade rate, and to
broadband noise, are still not fully under-
stood. Phenomena like tip vortex cavitation
and especially vortex bursting are very com-
plex since viscosity, compressibility and wake
inhomogeneity have a major influence (Fri-
esch, 2000). Unstable, fluctuating and irregu-
lar behavior of sheet and tip vortex cavitation
lead to a widespread distribution of energy
along the frequency band, with higher-
419
harmonic pressure levels of amplitude almost
the same as or even higher than the first har-
monic. These high-harmonic amplitudes, as-
sociated with intermediate frequencies not
corresponding to blade-frequency multiples,
can be extremely dangerous because the wide
range of frequency increases the risk of reso-
nance of local parts of the steel structure of
the ship. To detect this broadband excitation,
a narrowband spectrum of the time signal
(registration) is necessary.
Figure 3.2 shows a narrowband spectrum
of a cavitating propeller with sheet cavitation
and a strong and bursting tip vortex. Blade
frequencies dominate, but there is a large
amount of energy at intermediate frequencies.
200
Amplitude [dB -re.1 µPa]
180
160
140
120
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Frequency [kHz]
Figure 3.2 FFT analysis of pressure signals
of a cavitating model propeller.
Understanding of the tip vortex effect on
the pressure signal becomes especially impor-
tant in cases of twin-screw cruise liners and
RoRo-ferries – many with podded propulsion
– where propeller cavitation is reduced to tip
vortex cavitation only. In those cases, it often
happens that the exciting forces for noncavi-
tating and cavitating propellers are of the
same magnitude.
Despite significant progress in predicting
hull pressure induced by sheet cavitation, it
remains difficult to calculate propeller-
induced pressure fluctuations related to tip
vortex cavitation. Lifting-surface and panel
methods are the established tools for predic-

420 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
tion of propeller cavitation. Implementation of
cavity models in RANS codes for propellers is
at an early stage of development and needs
further improvement. Therefore, model ex-
periments remain the most-reliable method
for estimating full-scale unsteady, pressure
excitation.
During the first term of this Specialist
Committee (22nd ITTC, 1996-1999), empha-
sis was placed on: fundamentals of cavitation-
induced pressure fluctuations, global descrip-
tions of prediction tools including tests and
numerical calculations, and methods of reduc-
ing propeller excitation (22nd ITTC report,
1999). The focus of the current term (23rd
ITTC, 1999-2002) has been development of
detailed procedures for predicting pressure
fluctuations caused by cavitating propellers,
both numerically and experimentally.
4. QUESTIONNAIRES
As a first step toward accomplishing the
assigned task, this committee developed a
questionnaire for assessing current practices
in use by various organizations, including the
ITTC member organizations, for predicting
cavitation-induced hull-pressure fluctuation.
The questionnaire was sent to 103 organiza-
tions comprising most ITTC member organi-
zations, along with industry and academia in-
volved in cavitation research.
The questionnaire consisted of two parts:
numerical and experimental. The numerical
part was divided into three major areas: onset
flow and loading conditions, propeller cavita-
tion prediction, and prediction of pressure
fluctuations. The experimental part was di-
vided into four major areas: facilities, model
and instrumentation set-up, test conditions,
and data acquisition, processing and presenta-
tion. Appendices 1 and 2 detail the numerical
and experimental parts of the questionnaire,
respectively, together with the responses.
23rd International
Towing Tank
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4.1. Summary of the Responses
Of 103 organizations, 38 organizations
from 20 countries responded with answers,
and 12 organizations from 8 countries re-
sponded with no answers primarily because
they are not involved in cavitation-related ac-
tivities. Among 38 that responded with an-
swers, 25 answered both numerical and ex-
perimental parts of the questions; 11 answered
numerical part only; and 2 answered experi-
mental part only.
The 20 countries which responded with
answers are as follows, with the number of
responding organizations specified in paren-
theses: Austria (1), Bulgaria (1), Canada (1),
People’s Republic of China (2), Denmark (2),
Finland (2), France (1), Germany (4), Greece
(1), Italy (1), Japan (9), South Korea (3), The
Netherlands (1), Norway (1), Poland (1),
Spain (1), Sweden (1), Turkey (1), UK (1),
and USA (3).
4.2. Analysis of the Responses: Numerical
Part
The questions were organized in order to
gather information on:
ƒ Onset flow data (from experiments or
calculations) and loading conditions,
ƒ Propeller flow and cavitation prediction
including type of cavitation, and
ƒ Prediction of pressure fluctuations.
The 36 numerical responses mostly pro-
vided very detailed answers; exceptions were
included in the evaluation. Responses are
summarized in the following sections, with
number of organizations shown in parenthe-
ses. Since each organization may use more
than one procedure for a particular task, the
responses for that task may exceed the total
number of answering organizations.
 23rd International
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Conference
Onset Flow and Loading Conditions
The wake normally used for propeller
cavitation prediction by slightly less than half
of the organizations is the measured model
nominal wake (see Figure 4.1). About one-
fourth (8) correct this wake to model effective
wake. About half (20) indicate that they cor-
rect the model wake to full-scale nominal (9),
or to full-scale effective wake (11). Computed
wakes, model- or full-scale, nominal or effec-
tive, not based on measurements, were re-
ported by less than one-fourth of the organiza-
tions (8) with no preference for any of the
combinations. This means that measured
model nominal wake is the basis in the major-
ity of answers, but other methods are used
sometimes as an alternative.
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f)
(a) Measured model nominal wake.
(b) Computed model nominal wake.
(c) Computed full-scale nominal, based on
measured model nominal wake.
(d) Computed full-scale nominal, based on
other than measured model nominal wake.
(e) Computed model effective, based on meas-
ured model nominal wake.
(f) Computed model effective, based on other
than measured model nominal wake.
(g) Computed full-scale effective, based on
measured model nominal wake.
(h) Computed full-scale effective, based on
other than measured model nominal wake.
Figure 4.1 Wake normally used for propeller
cavitation prediction.
The loading condition (combinations of JT
and/or KT or JQ and/or KQ) is defined mainly
(33) on the basis of model data with few or-
ganizations (4) using calculation only for full-
Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II 421
scale, sometimes as an alternative. One third
(11) use model data without correction
whereas two thirds (22) correct their model
data to full-scale (correction methods used
were not specified). Most organizations that
correct model data to full scale use the design
propeller (17) as opposed to the stock propel-
ler (2). The general interpretation is that or-
ganizations prefer to use the design propeller
model and do use it if available.
Propeller Cavitation Prediction
All organizations deal with sheet cavita-
tion (see Figure 4.2). Many fewer also deal
with tip-vortex (12) and bubble cavitation (9)
and very few also address cloud (4) and hub-
vortex cavitation (2). Different methods are
used for cavitation prediction, and some or-
ganizations have more methods available (see
Figure 4.3).
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
(g) (h)
30%
20%
10%
0%
(1 ) (2 ) (3 ) (4 ) (5 )
(1) Sheet (4) Tip vortex
(2) Bubble (5) Hub vortex
(3) Cloud
Figure 4.2 Types of cavitation accounted
for in hull-pressure prediction.
In general, propeller lifting-surface meth-
ods (23), and to a less extent panel methods
(14), are the most commonly used. Those
methods are also used as a basis for two-
dimensional (2-D) profile techniques to ad-
dress sheet cavitation and as a basis for pre-
diction of other types of cavitation. They are
used as routine methods, for customers and
for research, the latter for the panel method in
particular. Some organizations report that
those methods are also in development, indi-
cating refinements and extensions being cur-
 23rd International
422 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures Towing Tank
Conference

rently implemented. RANS methods are only pressures. A few organizations use empirical
indicated as used for research or being in de- or semi-empirical methods for predicting hull
velopment, and only one organization uses a surface pressure but use lifting- surface meth-
RANS method to predict sheet-cavitation. It ods for predicting type and extent of cavita-
appears that different methods are used de- tion on the propeller.
pending on the application. Some purely and
semi-empirical methods seem to address sev- 70%
eral types of cavitation with no specific type 60%
being indicated. Cavitation history is ac-
50%
counted for by both quasi-steady (14) as well
40%
as fully unsteady (18) procedures, whereas
30%
fewer organizations use bubble dynamics (7)
20%
(see Figure 4.4). Changes in propeller-blade
10%
geometry due to hydroelastic effects are in-
0%
cluded by very few organizations (3). (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)

(a) Quasi-steady (c) Bubble dynamics

70%

60%
(b) Fully unsteady (d) Other

50%
Figure 4.4 Methods used when accounting
40%
for cavitation history.
30% One-third of the organizations (12) calculate
20% the hull response to cavitation-induced pres-
10% sures. Some that do not perform such a calcu-
0% lation indicate that they do not have the nec-
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8)
essary information on the ship structure, or
(1) Purely empirical (5) Propeller lifting-
that they have no interest in such a result. The
surface results of hull-pressure fluctuation predictions
(2) Semi-empirical
(6) Propeller panel are usually (31) presented at blade-rate fre-
(3) 2-D quencies (amplitude and phase), often up to
(7) RANS equations
(4) 3-D airfoil third blade-rate, but sometimes higher. Some
(8) Other
organizations (7) also present time series.
Figure 4.3 Methods used when predicting
the types of cavitation shown in Figure 4.2. Summary
Prediction of Pressure Fluctuations The onset-flow and loading conditions for
propeller cavitation are mainly predicted on
When predicting hull-pressure fluctua- the basis of model tests, often with corrections
tions, only a few organizations (3) use an en- to full scale and effective wake. Only a few
tire hull representation. About half (16) use organizations use calculations only.
partial representation of the hull, whereas the
other half (15) use solid boundary factors; a Nearly all organizations account for sheet
few use both. One-third (11) include free- cavitation; many fewer include one or more
surface effects, but that approach is not corre- additional types. Empirical methods are used,
lated with the method used for calculating but most rely on propeller lifting-surface and
hull effect. Hull pressures are predicted slightly fewer on propeller panel methods.
mostly on the basis of the unsteady Bernoulli Both methods are under further development
equation (24), but organizations (7) using em- by the organizations, in particular panel meth-
pirical and semi-empirical methods for cavita-
tion prediction also use such methods for
 23rd International
Towing Tank Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II 423
Conference

ods. RANS methods are in development or
used for research.
Hull-pressure fluctuation predictions are
mainly based on the unsteady Bernoulli equa-
tion, but some organizations also use empiri-
cal methods. Partial-hull representations or
solid-boundary factors are most widely used.
4.3. Analysis of the Responses:
exceptions, that smaller facilities implement
wake simulation by wire screen. Larger tun-
nels use more-sophisticated wake simulation
methods
Dummy models are widely used for me-
dium-size facilities, while full-ship models are
adopted for tunnel cross section larger than 1
m2. One organization uses a combination of
full-hull model and flow liners.
1000

Experimental Part OPEN-JET CAVITATION TUNNEL

100

FACILITY CROSS SECTION AREA (SQ. M)

CLOSED-JET CAVITATION TUNNEL

FREE-SURFACE CAVITATION TUNNEL

The questions were organized to gather in- 10 DEPRESSURIZED TOWING TANK

formation in the following areas:

1

ƒ Test facility involved in pressure fluc- 0.1

INSEAN

MARIN
DMI

HMRI

MARINTEK

HSVA
CSSRC

BSHC

CSSRC_LCC

DTMB_LCC
SVA Austria

DTMB_36inch
Newcastle

Samsung
KRISO

CTO

EL PARDO
MIT

SVA Germany
ITU (1)
VWS TU Berlin (KT1)
ITU(2)

Mitsui (1)
Mitsui (2)
TU Berlin(1)
SRI (1)

TU Berlin(2)

SSPA (1)

SRI (2)
SSPA (3)

SSPA (2)

VWS TU Berlin (UT2)

MHI

BECVDR
tuations measurements and wake simu-
lation,
0.01

0.001

ƒ Propeller and ship models, instrumenta- a. Facility topology versus tunnel size.
tion set-up, 1000
FACILITY CROSS SECTION AREA (SQ. M)

ƒ Adopted test conditions, and 100

10

ƒ Data acquisition, processing, and pres-

entation. 1
FLOW FULL-HULL
FULL-HULL LINERS MODEL + FLOW
MODEL LINERS
Test Facility and Wake Simulation
DUMMY
MODEL
0.1

WIRE
SCREEN

The responses have been analyzed in vari- 0.01

0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 6.00

ous ways and presented in graphical form. k i l ti

The types of cavitation tunnels used for cavi-
tation-induced fluctuating pressure measure-
ments vary from open-jet (2), closed-jet (20),
free-surface cavitation tunnels (4) to a large
depressurized towing tank (1).
The responses were sorted by the tunnel
test-section area and are presented in Figure
4.5. Facilities having multiple test sections
were counted by the number of tunnels.
Figure 4.5a shows the topology of the facili-
ties as a function of the tunnel size.
The topology of the wake simulation
adopted (wire screen, dummy model, and full
model) for performing pressure fluctuation
tests as a function of the tunnel size is shown
in Figure 4.5b. The survey showed, with some
b. Wake simulation versus tunnel size.
Figure 4.5 Facility geometric characteristics.
Wake simulation is critical when perform-
ing pressure-fluctuation tests. Analysis of the
responses indicated that tunnel velocity meas-
urements and quality checking of the simu-
lated wake in the facilities are common pro-
cedures when performing those tests. Al-
though most facilities are still using pitot
tubes, LDV is becoming popular for measur-
ing the time-average velocity field. However,
three fourths (16) of the respondents deem
their wakes correctly simulated in the cavita-
tion tunnel, and some commercial tanks (10)
regard wake measurement as an option to be
performed only upon customer request.

424 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
The blockage (defined as the ratio of pro-
peller disk area to the test-section area) and
the propeller Reynolds number (defined using
the propeller diameter as reference length)
were analysed as a function of the tunnel size
and presented in Figure 4.6. For smaller tun-
nels, the blockage effect is very important.
Some limitations in performing pressure-
fluctuation measurements could be expected
even if one fourth (5) of the respondents
stated that they adopt some heuristic correc-
tions.
100
10
Re (x106), Blockage (%)
1.0
0.01 0.1
0.1
0.01
Facility Cross Section Area (m 2)
Figure 4.6 Propeller Reynolds number and
blockage versus facility size.
Free-surface channels, where the testing
speeds are two to three times slower than
closed tunnels due to Froude simulation,
showed lower Reynolds number than closed
tunnels. Similar concerns about possible low
Reynolds number apply to some small cavita-
tion tunnels. Despite the fact that the tunnel
speed can be higher than 10 m/s, actual test
speed could be limited to 3-4 m/s, probably
due to screen cavitation and/or deformation
that may degrade the quality of the simulated
wake.
Propeller and Ship Model, Instrumentation
A typical propeller diameter used for pres-
sure-fluctuation tests is in the range of 180-
250 mm. Some large facilities use propellers
with diameters up to 400 mm. Popular propel-
23rd International
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ler materials are brass and high-strength alu-
minum alloy. Typical manufacturing accuracy
is in the range of 0.01-0.05 mm. About a
quarter (6) of the respondents use carborun-
dum turbulence stimulation on propeller
blades. Normally for dummy model set-up,
brackets and rudder are also mounted. When
using full-ship models, wood (12) or fiber-
glass (6) is used for construction and all the
appendages are mounted. Shaft rotational
speed is measured using a multiple-pulse en-
coder (18) mounted on the propeller shaft (6),
on the dynamometer (8) or on the motor (11).
Reynolds number
Particular attention is paid by 70% of the re-
Propeller blockage (%) spondents when setting up the mechanical
Free surface channels
transmission for a full-ship model: shaft
alignment is checked in order to reduce the
vibration levels induced by the mechanical
transmission, especially for twin-screw ship
1.0 10 100 1000 models when only one motor and gear box are
used to assure constant propeller rotational
speed. For twin-screw ship models, about one
quarter (6) of the respondents use a two-motor
configuration (one for each shaft). A two-
motor arrangement is more reliable and pro-
duces reduced vibration and better control of
the propeller rotational speed.
The number of pressure transducers used,
differential or absolute type, varied from 5 to
20. Locations of pressure taps varied widely
among the organizations. Most of the respon-
dents placed transducers both upstream and
downstream of the propeller plane. Pressure
transducer response range varied widely de-
pending on test velocity and static pressure
used for pressure fluctuation experiments. The
maximum frequency response range of piezo-
electric and strain-gauge pressure transducers
varied from 1 to 5 kHz. In addition to pressure
transducers, one to six hydrophones or accel-
erometers are typically used by about a quar-
ter (6) of the respondents.
Test Conditions
In general, test conditions are based on
towing tank propulsion test results. In some
cases, the designer specifies test conditions. In
 23rd International
Towing Tank Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II
Conference
both cases, KT identity is widely used (19)
compared to KQ (9) or J identity (8).
There is no standard definition of the cavi-
tation number σ for pressure fluctuation tests
among the organizations. Static pressure is
defined variously at the shaft centerline, or at
0.7R or the propeller tip at 12 o’clock angular
position. The dynamic pressure is calculated
with the propeller rotational speed or with the
vector sum of the propeller rotational speed
and the advance velocity.
During the test, water quality is monitored
by all of the organizations. Oxygen content
(15) or total air content (8) is measured during
tests performed below 7 m/s with a propeller
rotational speed in the range of 15÷45 rps
(16). One organization performs tests at dif-
ferent revolution rates to determine the effect
of propeller rotational speed. About half of
the organizations observe cavitation using
stroboscopic light video or digital still cam-
eras.
Data Acquisition, Processing and Presenta-
tion
Most respondents (18) sample pressure
signals and record time histories. Sampling is
done at a suitable frequency and time interval
to capture from 50 to 1000 propeller revolu-
tions. Most of the respondents (18) record the
phase angle of the propeller, but only a few
(3) average phase angle to obtain the mean
pressure versus shaft angle.
Most organizations Fourier-analyze the
time series and tabulate up to the 30th blade-
harmonic amplitude. One organization also
presents the shaft-rate harmonics, because in
some cases the shaft-rate harmonic amplitude
may not be negligible
More than half (14) of the organizations
present continuous spectra of the pressure
fluctuation. Some (4) also post-process the
data to obtain the forces on the hull. A major-
ity of the organizations (16) check the repro-
425
ducibility of the pressure data, but only a few
(4) perform an uncertainty analysis.
Summary
Questionnaire results indicate that many
organizations perform pressure-fluctuation
measurements when a cavitation tunnel is
available. The wake simulation used varies
with the facility type. In some facilities, limi-
tations due to blockage or to low propeller
Reynolds number are apparent. Nonetheless,
the information obtained even in a poor simu-
lation is valuable data for a ship designer.
Larger facilities offer more-advanced testing
capabilities and a range of wake simulations
(dummy models, full model, shortened model,
flow liners, etc.).
All the organizations perform data acquisi-
tion and analysis in a similar way, but only a
few use a phase-sampling technique to ana-
lyze pressure time history. Data reproducibil-
ity is commonly checked, but uncertainty
analysis is not widely performed.
5. DEVELOPMENT OF PROCEDURES
This Specialist Committee developed two
separate procedures—an experimental one
and a numerical one—for predicting cavita-
tion-induced hull pressures. Both full recom-
mended procedures are included in the ITTC
Quality Manual as procedures 7.5-02-03-03.3
and 7.5-02-03-03.4.
The experimental procedure deals with
only the measurement of pressure fluctuation
generated by a cavitating propeller. Many
other aspects are treated elsewhere. Some of
the major experimental issues that are not
covered in the experimental procedures are
presented here. Detailed water-quality effects,
including total air content, free air content and
nuclei distributions, will be addressed in a
separate report of the Specialist Committee on
Water Quality and Cavitation (23rd ITTC re-
port, 2002). Details related to cavitation tests

426 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
will be reported by the Propulsion Committee.
The full-scale measurement procedure has
already been reported in a 22nd ITTC Com-
mittee report (1999).
The numerical procedure is more loosely
defined because many existing methods have
varying degrees of completeness and com-
puter resource requirements. Most organiza-
tions have experience on how to use their par-
ticular method with good results. Conse-
quently, the numerical procedure provides
guidance to naval architects in shipyards,
owners and consultancies on how to use avail-
able methods.
5.1. Comments on the Experimental
Procedure
The committee was assigned to develop a
procedure for prediction of cavitation-induced
pressure fluctuations on the basis of model-
scale experiments. The procedure provides
guidelines to ensure the most accurate data
possible for the cavitation-induced pressure-
fluctuation performance of ship propellers.
In this part of the report, some physical
phenomena are documented which play an
important role when performing pressure-
fluctuation measurements in a cavitation test
facility, but which can neither be put in a di-
rect law nor can specific values be given.
Influence of Boundary Conditions
The engineering problem is to determine
the propeller-generated unsteady pressure
field at the aft body, expressed so that the
force exciting ship vibrations can be deter-
mined. Ideally the experiments would be per-
formed so that the measured pressures, after a
simple scaling, could be fed directly into an
FEM-calculation. In practice other corrections
also may be needed to take account of effects
not possible to simulate in the model experi-
ment.
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The group of problems discussed below is
related to the influence on the pressure pulses
of the boundary conditions at the hull and
nearby surfaces. Although parts of the prob-
lem are common for numerical and experi-
mental predictions, the discussion is focused
on understanding the experimental problem.
The influence of the boundary conditions
on pressure pulses measured at the hull sur-
face was already known in early work, exam-
ples being the discussions by Tsakonas et al.
(1962) and Huse (1970). However, intensive
discussion did not begin until the mid- and
late-1970s and early 1980s when results were
collected and analyzed from the new cavita-
tion laboratories employing complete ship
models with or without a free water surface.
Since then, quite a few papers on the subject
have appeared. However, the problems have
not been solved in the sense that there exists a
standard engineering method that is com-
monly applied to treat the problems.
The flow generating the pressure pulses
from the propeller can for most applications
be obtained from the velocity potential deter-
mined by a Laplace equation which at a large
distance from the propeller transforms into a
wave equation. The solution for the pressure
field p(x,t) in space and time, obtained via the
Bernoulli equation, is influenced by the condi-
tions at the boundaries of the domain in which
p(x,t) propagates.
In potential theory, the boundaries are re-
alized by adding images of the pressure pulse
sources such that the boundary conditions are
fulfilled on the boundary of the domain, for
example at the hull plating and free surface.
A direct conclusion from this modeling is
that a distant boundary usually has little influ-
ence on the field close to the source. How-
ever, close to the boundaries, the hull plating
and the free water surface for example, the
boundary conditions can have a dominating
influence on p(x,t). As a result, for example,
the 1/r - variation of the pressure from a sim-
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ple source does not hold when approaching
boundaries.
For a ship at the surface of a deep ocean,
the two dominating boundaries affecting p(x,t)
close to the propeller are the hull plating,
more or less flexible, and the free water sur-
face, completely flexible.
Examples of “distant” boundaries that also
can be of interest are the walls in a cavitation
tunnel. Sometimes the walls can be close
enough to influence the measured hull pres-
sure. If standing waves are excited, measure-
ments rather close to the propeller can also be
influenced.
In computations, the free-field pressure in
an unbounded space is primarily obtained. In
a “conventional” cavitation tunnel, a board
with water on both sides usually substitutes
for the free water surface. The boundary con-
dition at this board is however not obvious.
The general potential theory as applied for
pressure pulses from propellers is for example
described in Breslin and Andersen (1994),
Chapters 21 and 22. Discussions directly re-
lated to the present problems are, among oth-
ers, made by Huse and Guoqiang (1982) and
Catley (1984).
Physical effects influencing the boundary
conditions
In an experiment the pressure in the water
at the hull surface is more or less influenced
by the following:
a. The presence of the hull as a body of a
specified shape.
b. The position of the pressure transducer (in
the hull surface) relative to other surfaces
(free surface, tunnel walls, etc.).
c. The global vibratory motion of the hull.
d. The local vibratory motion of the hull.
e. The presence of a free water surface.
f. The presence of other bounding surfaces
as tunnel walls or sea bottom.
427
In the theory these points appear as
boundary conditions for the hydrodynamic or
possibly acoustic equations describing the be-
havior of the pressure pulses.
Similarity in model testing
With regard to the propeller hydrodynam-
ics, including the ship wake and cavitation, an
elaborate procedure usually results in ade-
quate simulation of the source of the pressure
pulse, i.e. mainly the cavitation dynamics.
This is achieved primarily by requiring simi-
larity of the cavitation number and a pressure
coefficient reflecting the flow field on the
blades (with appropriate ship’s wake and ad-
vance coefficient). Although important, these
similarity conditions are not the only ones;
also, they are usually only approximately ful-
filled. A corresponding level of accuracy for
the boundary conditions influencing the pres-
sure pulses can however be even more diffi-
cult to achieve.
Also for the factors (a)-(f) above, it hap-
pens that one or a few dominate. Different
factors can also have opposite influence,
meaning that a measured pressure can ap-
proach a calculated free-field pressure when it
shouldn’t.
An important problem appears when full-
scale measurements have to be compared with
model measurements or numerical predic-
tions. Such comparisons are very important
for establishing correlation between predic-
tions and “true” full-scale data. However, as
pointed out by Wereldsma (1981), full-scale
data can be even more difficult to interpret
than model data. This fact is one reason why
the effects of boundary conditions have to be
taken seriously.
The most-complete fulfillment of the
boundary conditions is found in a large vac-
uum tank operating at the correct Froude
number. There, not only are the correct hull
shape and free surface present, but the channel
walls are also reasonably distant from the
points at which pressure is measured. Yet ap-

428 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
proximations have to be made even in such a
facility. For example, the local vibrations of
the model and full-scale ship are usually dif-
ferent, and a Mach number similarity needed
for a correct pressure-pulse distribution
around the hull is also neglected. The Mach
number similarity is not very important for
low frequencies and close to the propeller, but
the local vibrations of the hull can be impor-
tant.
However, things are not always that bad.
With a ship model, or an afterbody of realistic
shape, tested in a reasonably large cavitation
tunnel, and with pressure pulses measured
fairly close to the propeller, the boundary
conditions can at least for some transducers be
approximately fulfilled, yielding measured
amplitudes that are a useful estimate of full-
scale values. This is particularly true if data
are corrected according to an updated full-
scale correlation. However, amplitudes from
transducers on the ship that are close to the
free water surface and/or far from the propel-
ler can require significant corrections.
Estimate of boundary condition effects and
correction factors – Examples
If the boundary conditions cannot be fully
realized in a test facility, it may be possible to
correct the measured data. The corrections can
be based on empirical models or on mathe-
matical models that can simulate the condi-
tions at model as well as at full scale.
The correction factors used by Huse and
Guoqiang (1982) are a suitable basis. They
define the “combined solid boundary and free
surface factor” (Stot) as the product of the
“solid boundary factor” (Sb) and a “free sur-
face factor” (Sf). Sb is defined as the pressure
measured at a rigid fully immersed hull di-
vided by the corresponding pressure in free
field, i.e., with the hull removed. Sf is defined
as the pressure measured at the hull with the
free surface present divided by the pressure at
the rigid fully immersed hull, i.e., with no free
surface present.
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The pressure field at a rigid stationary
body: The simplest formulation occurs when
the hull is a rigid stationary body, i.e. not re-
sponding to the unsteady pressure by vibrat-
ing. That case, with a free water surface, was
extensively studied by Huse and Guoqiang
(1982). By applying potential theory, they cal-
culated the combined solid-boundary and
free-surface factor for four different ships, at
five sections for one of the ships and at differ-
ent conditions for a wedge section.
It should be noticed how much smaller the
total correction was than the “standard” flat
plate value of 2, even at the deepest point of a
section at some distance upstream from the
propeller (Stot=0.24 at section position,
x/LPP=0.18, their Figure 12). Only when tip
clearance relative to propeller tip immersion
was quite small (0.07) did Stot approach 2
(their Figure 13). The authors also found the
solid-boundary factor (i.e. without the free-
surface effect, their p. 90 and Figure 14) to be
very close to 2.0 at normal transducer posi-
tions for most afterbody forms, a fact of inter-
est for some types of model configuration in
cavitation tunnels. The data presented by
Huse and Guoqiang provide a point of refer-
ence for the combined free-surface and solid-
boundary effects.
With regard to numerical prediction of
pressure pulses, Breslin et al. (1982), Kaplan
et al. (1982) and later Kehr et al. (1996) also
computed the effects of a rigid hull and free
surface by similar methods. That type of
simulation of the hydromechanics of the pul-
sating field outside the hull can alternatively
be done by a Navier-Stokes or Euler model, as
demonstrated by Sunnersjö and Janson
(1987). Bloor and Kinns (2000), Kinns and
Bloor (2000), Nakatake et al. (2000) and Jen-
sen et al. (2001) also made similar calcula-
tions.
The pressure field at a vibrating body:
The next level of sophistication is to take into
account the effect of ship vibration on the hull
pressures. The vibration can be global girder
vibration as well as local plate vibration. The
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vibration can be generated by a specific pro- Sunnersjö (1982), Sunnersjö et al. (1984),
peller cavity, or by sources not correlated with Sunnersjö and Janson (1987) measured pres-
this specific source. Multiple sources make sure pulses on a fishery research vessel at
measurement and interpretation more com- model and full scale, as well as hull vibration
plex, particularly at higher frequencies when at transducer positions on the ship. With ma-
wider frequency bands are also used. chinery stopped, vibration-induced pressures
were measured when the ship was excited by
Wereldsma (1981) discussed the funda-
an exciter placed close to the area where the
mentals of measuring under such conditions.
propeller-induced pressure had a maximum.
He argued that hull vibration could, even at
The exciter generated a broadband random
model scale, contribute significantly to the
force in a 4÷40 Hz range. A transfer function
measured hull pressure. He further claimed
was calculated as the measured pressure di-
that comparisons of pressure amplitude at
vided by the acceleration. Assuming that the
model and full scale could at worst be mean-
propeller excited the same modes, this trans-
ingless due to different dynamics of model
fer function was used to find the vibration-
and full-scale hulls. This is possible if particu-
induced pressure with the propeller in opera-
larly strong local plate vibrations are present.
tion. By applying the transfer function to the
However, twenty years of additional experi-
transducer vibrations with the propeller in op-
ence indicates that the situation is usually not
eration, the measured pressure with the pro-
that bad; nonetheless a conservative attitude is
peller in operation could then be corrected.
still a good idea. Wereldsma also recom-
Phase angles, which can influence corrections
mended correcting the measured pressures
significantly, were carefully monitored.
using the recorded acceleration of the pressure
Added masses for vibration modes were cal-
transducer.
culated by a CFD-RANS code (run with zero
Frivold (1976) studied the influence of viscosity).
hull vibration on measured pressure for a full-
It was concluded that for the two first
scale LNG-carrier. He found that the contribu-
blade-rate harmonics, the corrections to the
tion from the global vibration was less than
pressure amplitudes due to vibration were
one-thousandth of the measured pressure, and
generally modest. An exception occurred for
that the contribution from the local vibration
the transducer positioned more than two pro-
was smaller than the standard deviation. From
peller diameters upstream of the propeller.
his Figure 2, however, it can be seen that at
There the corrections were between 30% and
distances larger than 1.5 propeller diameters
100%, in opposite directions. Between 4 and
upstream of the propeller the standard devia-
40 Hz (full scale), comparisons of calculated
tion was not very small.
and measured added mass indicated “that at
Catley (1984) presented an extensive re- the lower frequencies, where global modes
view and analysis of the hydroelastics and the dominate, the experimental behaviour tends to
computations of solid-boundary factors for a the rigid body results, while at the higher fre-
product tanker. He applied potential theory to quency more local modes predominate.”
find the added masses and thus the perturba-
Nilsson (1980) performed a study at high
tion pressure generated by global as well as
frequencies, 30 Hz ÷ 6 kHz. He derived a
local hull vibration determined by an FEM
model for the plate response due to incident
method. In view of the variation of the calcu-
pressure by supposing the plates in the after-
lated solid boundary factors, it is evident that
body to be simply supported. He verified the
surprises can occur when comparing model
model with measurements of pressure pulses
and full-scale pressures if a pressure trans-
and plate vibration in the centers of some
ducer is located on a node.
product-carrier afterbody plates. All transduc-
ers were mounted in plates 14÷30.5 mm thick

430 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
and well below the waterline, i.e. free surface
effect was neglected.
He concluded that below 40 Hz (blade
frequency being around 8 Hz) the velocity of
the hull plating was determined by global
rather than local vibrations, i.e. the afterbody
vibrated mainly as a solid body. The differ-
ence between the incident free-field pressure
and the measured pressure for this case was
predicted to be close to 6 dB, i.e. the solid-
boundary factor equals 2.
At frequencies between 125 and 250 Hz,
where plate resonances occurred, the meas-
ured pressure was predicted to be up to 15 dB
(a solid-boundary factor close to 5.6) above
the incident free-field pressure. Above 6 kHz
the correction again approached 6 dB. The
125 Hz corresponded to the 15th harmonic of
blade frequency, i.e. to the region of low-
frequency noise of interest for cruise liners
and ferries.
The example demonstrates what can hap-
pen when pressure transducers are positioned
in the middle of plates where the vibration
amplitude reaches its maximum. With the
pressure transducer in a stiff position close to
a frame or on the ship centerline, the correc-
tion can be supposed to be significantly lower.
What happens to the induced pressure be-
tween out-of-phase antinodes as discussed by
Sunnersjö et al. (1984) should be further ana-
lyzed.
Substituting for the free surface with a
submerged plate: In some cavitation tunnels a
submerged plate substitutes for the free sur-
face. The plate, usually of laminated wood
and approximately 15 mm thick, is not in-
tended to be a simulation of the free surface. It
is a substitute for the free surface, enabling
the tunnel to be operated at higher speeds than
follow from Froude number scaling. It is im-
portant in this discussion that (non-flowing)
water reaches far above the plate.
To correct pressure amplitudes measured
in such tunnels, some authors calculate a
combined solid-boundary and free-surface
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factor by supposing the plate to be a rigid
boundary; for example Huse and Guoqiang
(1982) and Kaplan et al. (1982). The correc-
tion factor is then obtained as the pressure
computed for the presence of a free surface
divided by the pressure computed for the
measured case, i.e., with a plate substituted
for the free surface. In the computations, the
plate is supposed to be a rigid solid.
As pointed out by Johnsson (1983) in a
discussion of Kaplan et al. (1982), that model-
ing is questionable for a plate of the type men-
tioned above. The main argument was that the
plate is submerged with the water reaching far
above the waterline, and that the plate can be
assumed to have an impedance not very dif-
ferent from water. Johnsson claimed, sup-
ported by acoustical tests, that the configura-
tion with the submerged plate is more equiva-
lent to a ship model with a rigid plate signifi-
cantly above the water-line, a case that is
somewhat closer to a free surface than the one
used in the paper. (It is however obvious from
the computations by Huse and Guoqiang that
the correction close to a free surface is so
strong that a submerged condition is also far
from adequate there.) The boundary condi-
tions when a plate substitutes for the free sur-
face is also discussed by Breslin and Ander-
sen (1994, pp. 446-447).
Later Kehr et al. (1996) also made compu-
tations based on the numerical model devel-
oped by Breslin et al. (1982). They also made
the computations for the same ship with a free
surface and a rigid surface at the waterline.
Although the comments made above are still
applicable, it is interesting to look at their
Figures 20 and 21 showing the pressure fields
over the afterbody for the different boundary
conditions.
Empirical corrections: The numerical
methods mentioned above for correction of
less-perfect realizations of boundary condi-
tions can in principle be used for correction of
measured pressures. For some reason, such
applications have not yet become engineering
practice.
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In the original formulations, no automatic
account is taken of the wave system of the
ship, i.e. of the influence of Froude number.
This however can be manually introduced.
Particularly for wide and flat afterbodies, as
on RO-RO ships, the stern wave can influence
the pressure amplitude significantly. In certain
ranges the Froude number can be a more-
important parameter than the immersion at
zero speed. Observing this, Johnsson (1983)
outlined an empirical procedure; see particu-
larly his Figure 8 (pp. 307) as well as Figure
D2 (pp. 896) in the discussion of Kehr et al.
(1996). (According to personal communica-
tion with Johnsson, later unpublished studies
indicate that the curve in Figure D2 cannot be
extrapolated to higher Froude numbers. Be-
cause of the development of the wave system
the curve will have a maximum around the
Froude number 0.3 and at 0.35 the correction
factor will return to low values.)
The advantage of empirical corrections
based on full-scale correlation is that all ef-
fects are taken into account: solid boundaries,
hull vibrations, free surface and not least a
number of scale effects related to wake, cavi-
tation and methods of analysis. On the other
hand, there is often a need for continuous up-
dating to cover new types of ships, etc., but
this can also be true for more theoretically
based methods which typically suffer from
some approximations.
Conclusions on Boundary Condition Ef-
fects
There is little doubt that the influence of
the boundary conditions is significant and has
to be considered. The often-used solid-
boundary factor of 2 can be adequate, al-
though somewhat conservative, for transduc-
ers mounted in stiff structures far from the
free water surface and close to the propeller.
Close to the surface and far from the propel-
ler, however, that value can result in signifi-
cant overestimation of the pressure amplitude.
At higher frequencies, in the range between
vibration and low-frequency noise, significant
431
corrections of measured pressure could be
necessary if a transducer is influenced by
resonant plate vibration.
The problems related to the boundary con-
ditions have been extensively discussed for a
long time, and methods for treating the prob-
lems have been suggested. Proposed methods
for calibration of cavitation tunnels and for
corrections are cumbersome to apply and pos-
sibly not general enough. The needs differ for
different cavitation laboratories. No wide-
spread, generally useful and standardized
method seems to be in use.
The practical problems are typically
solved by empirically-based methods sup-
ported by physics and brought to quantitative
level by full-scale correlation. Such methods
often need a high input of engineering skill
and are mainly valid for a specific facility
only. A need for development of more general
procedures seems to remain.
Cavitation Instability - Statistical Proper-
ties of the Cavitation Process and Scaling
Problems
The main assumption in scaling of model
results is that the model and full-scale proc-
esses are exactly similar, and were measured
and would be analyzed in ways preserving this
similarity. For example, the scaling of pres-
sure amplitudes by the non-dimensional pa-
rameter Kp is based on such assumptions.
Due to the fact that all similarity require-
ments cannot all be fulfilled in a model ex-
periment, the cavitation behavior at model
and full scale will be more or less different;
i.e. scale effects will occur. For example,
scale effects in the extent and dynamics of the
cavitation will influence the height and shape
of the pressure pulse and then also the spec-
trum. Additionally, the spectrum can also be
quite sensitive to the statistical properties of
the cavitation process, for example the perio-
dicity of the pulse sequence.

432 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
Ideally the pressure signal is periodic, with
the blade frequency as the lowest frequency.
This corresponds to a line spectrum with
spectral lines only at multiples of the blade
frequency. If all blades are not identical, there
will be a periodic modulation of the signal
and spectral lines separated by the shaft fre-
quency will appear as “sidebands” around all
lines at blade frequency multiples. The lowest
frequency appearing will be the shaft fre-
quency.
If the wake is fluctuating, because of tur-
bulence, separation or ship motion in waves,
the cavitation at different blade passages can
generate pulses of different shape, amplitudes
and phase. The deviations from the ideal sig-
nal can be periodic (due to periodic waves for
example) or more-or-less random (due to tur-
bulence in the wake, variation of nuclei den-
sity etc.). Depending on the statistical charac-
ter of the disturbances, the modulating
mechanisms, the spectrum will be modified in
different ways. Random modulations will in-
troduce a continuous spectrum. In fact all con-
tinuous parts of the spectrum of a long dura-
tion signal can be considered to be a result of
modulation.
In comparing a typical model test with a
full-scale test in sea state zero, the general
impression is often that the cavitation at full
scale has the more periodic and stable behav-
ior. In other sea conditions the reverse can be
true. If the gas content of the water in a model
test is on the low side and the cavitation is
only of tiny extent, the cavitation becomes
intermittent, i.e. some blade passages will
generate no or a significantly smaller cavity.
This is a type of modulation, usually random
and of very low frequency.
At model scale, fully developed cavities
typically appear more rarely, and therefore
fewer significant pressure pulses per propeller
revolution are generated, compared to full
scale. Since the root-mean-square (rms) value
of the pressure depends on the pulse height
and on the occurrence frequency, the model
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rms pressure sometimes leads to under-
predicted full-scale fluctuating pressure lev-
els.
Friesch and Johannsen (1992) addressed
the problem by using a shortened ship model,
obtaining a more-stable sheet cavitation and a
clearly periodic behavior of the pressure sig-
nal. Scale effects due to intermittence and
other statistical effects tend to be reduced
when tests are done at high water speed, high
nuclei content and adequate wake turbulence.
The most-extensive discussion of modulation
effects in cavitation is found in the paper by
Baiter et al. (1982). In computations no modu-
lation will appear, but the effects still have to
be accounted for in comparisons with full-
scale data.
All modulation caused by external proc-
esses, manufacturing, operation, etc. affects
the statistical properties of the pressure signal.
If for example an otherwise constant wake
fluctuates from side to side of the ship, the
periodicity of the pressure pulse sequence will
be distorted. The amplitude and shape of the
pulses will not be changed but the interval
will fluctuate, i.e. we have a phase-angle
modulation. This type does not change the
energy content of the signal but it will redis-
tribute energy (amplitude) from blade-
frequency multiple lines in the ideal spectrum
to sidebands, i.e. to continuous or line spectra
at both sides of the ideal spectral lines. This
redistribution of energy will decrease the am-
plitude of the ideal spectral lines.
Spreading of energy around the ideal lines
by phase modulation is stronger at higher
harmonics than lower. This implies particu-
larly that phase modulation of moderate sheet
and tip vortex cavitation can be supposed to
be involved in generation of spectra showing
high continuous levels beyond 5 to 10 blade
frequency multiples, i.e. of the types obtained
from mainly tip vortex cavitation in the stud-
ies by Ingelsten and Johansson (1997) and
Johannsen (1998).
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If this modulation does not exist at full
scale, at least not during a trial in calm water,
a discrepancy will result between the model
and full-scale spectra. If on the other hand the
wake fraction only fluctuates around a mean
value this will (in a simplified model) result
in modulation of the cavity volume and thus
also of the pulse amplitude, i.e. we have an
amplitude modulation. In that case sidebands
will also appear in the spectrum, but the total
energy of the signal will be higher than for a
steady wake.
Methods are required to analyze the result-
ing pressure signal produced by the various
forms of cavitation intermittency. If all modu-
lation were of the phase type and existed at
model scale only, the energy in the sidebands
could be moved back to the ideal spectral
lines. In practice this would result in a strong
overcorrection, but it points out that it is rea-
sonable to take some account of spectrum lev-
els around the ideal lines at blade-frequency
multiples.
In practice, different types of modulation
will coexist. Some types could be scale effects
depending on model conditions, others could
be the result of operation or weather at full
scale, and still others could be “true” and exist
in both cases. Therefore it can happen that
continuous as well as line spectra have to be
scaled. It is noted then that the Kp-formula
can be different for different spectrum types
(Bark, 1992).
It is also possible to address intermittency
in the pressure amplitude signal itself. Typi-
cally, low-amplitude pressure pulses are ex-
cluded, and an rms amplitude or harmonic
analysis is based on the remaining pulses.
This approach was initially based on the as-
sumption that excessive intermittency tends to
occur at model scale, primarily due to lack of
nuclei. In one demonstration, Johnsson et al.
(1976) excluded from analysis insignificant
pulses generated mainly by noncavitating
blade passages at model scale.
433
Pulse exclusion can be stated as: An rms
value of the X% highest amplitudes is calcu-
lated. At X=100, the standard rms value is
obtained. With X<100, a higher rms value is
obtained. A problem is that no general princi-
ple can be derived to determine the amplitude
below which pulses should be disregarded. A
low value of X at both model and full scale
can sometimes be adequate, comparing typical
large pulses in both cases.
When the standard rms amplitude is used,
with no record of the intermittency, the uncer-
tainty is out of control and may be large. If
X<100 is used for an intermittent signal, the
uncertainty can still be out of control, albeit
usually smaller, and the prediction will be
more conservative.
For this reason, it is very important to
document cavity intermittency. A simple
video recording yields valuable information.
However, more-advanced techniques have
been developed. Weitendorf and Tanger
(1992) used a video recording system coupled
with post-processing software that produced a
representation of cavity fluctuation. Johann-
sen (1998 and 2000) further developed video
techniques by simultaneously recording hull-
pressure pulses and high-speed video. Pres-
sure-pulse levels were superimposed on the
video image to show temporal effects of cav-
ity development and related hull-pressure
variation.
A reasonable analysis might use the usual
rms (X=100) as the standard measurement,
with an X<100 value as a supplement to pro-
vide information about the intermittency ef-
fect. Results for several X<100 values could
also be useful in comparisons among different
test facilities and full-scale conditions. Select-
ing X-values for standard reporting should be
based on extensive experience and correlation
of the procedure with full-scale results. Such
values might vary according to different con-
ditions, ships, etc. It is highly advisable to in-
clude the usual X=100 value. In the end, use
of either standard rms values and/or “rms of

434 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
the X% highest” values is a matter of judg-
ment. Both can, if supported by full-scale cor-
relation, result in relevant predictions.
Water Quality
The effect of water quality has been a sub-
ject of continuous discussion in ITTC. The
cavitation nuclei concentration in the water
has a significant influence on the tensile
strength of the water, and therefore on propel-
ler cavitation characteristics, especially incep-
tion and intermittence. However, the detailed
effects of cavitation nuclei are not yet com-
pletely clear in spite of much effort. The ulti-
mate solution will not involve reproducing the
seawater nuclei full-scale spectra in model
tests.
Minimizing the liquid tension and maxi-
mizing the number of nuclei is one method to
reduce scale effects; however, in many facili-
ties, this is not always practical. The “natural”
nuclei spectrum of any cavitation facility de-
pends on the history of the fluid through the
facility. This means that the nuclei spectrum
will depend on conditions such as dissolved
air content, pressure level, velocity, and the
transit time through the different parts of the
circuit, i.e. the main pump, vanes, resorber,
etc. Consequently, the “natural” spectrum is
different in each cavitation test facility. Each
facility has its own unique relationship be-
tween air content and nuclei distribution for a
given operating condition. It must, therefore,
be observed that too high a level of nuclei (air
bubbles) could introduce a damping effect on
the measured unsteady pressure amplitudes.
It is certain that operating at high Rey-
nolds numbers will reduce water-quality scale
effects on model blade cavitation. To mini-
mize these scale effects, the experiments
should be run at high Reynolds number and
high flow velocity with high nuclei content,
which is often reached by increasing the dis-
solved air content.
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Previously measured liquid tension/nuclei
distributions/oxygen content can be used to
establish a reference during testing and a cor-
relation to air content level. More details
should be taken from the report of the Spe-
cialist Committee on Water Quality and Cavi-
tation (23rd ITTC, 2002).
Small Tunnels and Blockage Effects
In comparison with large cavitation tun-
nels, small or medium-sized cavitation tun-
nels have inherent drawbacks in performing
hull-pressure measurements. It is nearly im-
possible to simulate transverse velocity com-
ponents in acceptable agreement with those
components of full-ship model wake, even if a
dummy model is used in conjunction with
wire screens.
Also, wire screens upstream of a propeller
may have a major influence on the cavitation
behavior of the propeller blades. The turbu-
lence characteristics of propeller inflow are
influenced by the mesh size. Furthermore, in a
relatively low-pressure condition, small-sized
bubble cavities generated on the wire mesh
may flow downstream and initiate cavitation
on the blade. Low air-content ratio is helpful
in avoiding this phenomenon, but is unfavor-
able for other types of cavitation, biasing the
characteristics of the cavitation and the level
of the fluctuating pressure.
When a flat plate or the tunnel wall is used
for pressure measurements, additional atten-
tion must be paid to the vibration level of the
plate and flow pattern around the plate. Pres-
sure pulse levels have been measured on a flat
plate positioned at a varying distance above
the propeller. Such a plate may be good for
research but usually is not ideal for commer-
cial projects. The plate vibrations can influ-
ence the results. Locally the pressure field at
such a vibrating plate is not very different
from that at a vibrating tunnel wall or a win-
dow or hull plating, but it has greater dipole
character (Kimball et al., 1997). The differ-
ences vary with size and frequency. In any
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case, the vibration has to be considered and
measured. It is important to keep in mind that
the plate vibrations are “natural”, correspond-
ing to hull vibrations, while tunnel-wall vibra-
tions are an artifact caused by the tunnel, and
are therefore a background noise.
The flow on the plate is simply a boundary
layer, but the inflow to the plate may not be
parallel to the plate due to the nonuniformity
of the simulated wake. As a result, a large
cavity may form, attached to the plate. It is
necessary to check if such a cavity occurs or
not. It is recommended that special attention
be paid to the flow around a plate, especially
for tests with unconventional wakes.
If a cavity, stationary or not, occurs close
to a pressure transducer, the pressure ampli-
tudes can be significantly influenced and the
setup must be modified.
The blockage effect is one of the major
constraints for hull-pressure measurements.
As mentioned in several ITTC reports (ITTC
1990, 1993, 1996, 1999), large scatter existed
in hull-pressure measurements among differ-
ent facilities. One of the sources of the scatter
in hull-pressure fluctuations was considered
to be the blockage effect, and the previous
ITTC comparative tests showed that different
levels of pressure fluctuation are measured in
differently sized test sections (ITTC 1999).
The effect of blockage on pressure measure-
ment has not been clarified quantitatively.
Systematic study of this effect is needed.
Wake Simulation
Correct simulation of the full-scale ship
wake is an essential requirement for pressure-
fluctuation measurements. For a twin-screw
ship, a full-ship model will correctly simulate
the three-dimensional full-scale propeller in-
flow provided that the propellers are operating
outside the hull boundary layer. In the case of
a single-screw hull, where the propeller is
working in the hull boundary layer, the large
difference of the model and ship Reynolds
435
numbers will produce a wider wake in model
scale.
A shortened full-ship model can be
adopted to reduce model and ship boundary
layer differences, but particular attention shall
be applied when shortening the model to
avoid possible flow separation on the model
forebody that will worsen propeller inflow
simulation. Prior testing with oil paint or tuft
visualization is recommended for verification.
Wire screens are widely used in smaller
tunnels to simulate primarily the axial veloc-
ity distribution. It is very difficult to produce
the tangential and the radial velocity distribu-
tion.
A dummy afterbody model can be used to
simulate the full scale propeller inflow, but it
requires a time-consuming iterative process of
model modifications and wake measurements
to achieve the target propeller inflow.
Full Scale Correlation/Measurements
Correlations between model- and full-
scale data serve a variety of purposes and are
considered to be very important by both the
testing community and customers. Those uses
depend critically upon the full-scale meas-
urements having been professionally made
and analyzed.
Obtaining and analyzing full-scale data
properly is itself a major challenge, substan-
tially different from model-scale testing. For
guidance in that endeavor, a systematic and
thorough discussion of full-scale measure-
ment methodology was presented in the 22nd
ITTC report.
5.2. Comments on the Numerical
Procedure
Calculations of cavitation-induced hull
pressure generally fall into two categories:
one based on empiricism, relying heavily on

436 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
model-test results; and one based on solving
the flow problem by first principles. For the
latter category, calculation of hull pressures is
the last part of a series of calculations: first,
the ship wake field is calculated; second, the
fully wetted flow; third, the cavitating propel-
ler flow field; and fourth, hull pressure. The
wake field is most often obtained from model
tests and scaled to full-scale effective-wake
field. However, direct CFD calculations are
becoming more common. In the procedure,
these points are addressed briefly, with more
emphasis on the cavitation calculation, which
is considered to be the most difficult part.
Cavitation volume time variation is the
most-important single parameter for accurate
hull pressure prediction. Cavity geometry and
its development over time on the rotating pro-
peller blade are also important, for evaluation
of propeller performance with respect to ero-
sion, vibration and noise by propeller design-
ers and naval architects. Among the various
types of cavitation, geometry can be predicted
accurately mainly for sheet cavitation
The problem of computing the ship wake
field will be treated in detail by the Resistance
Committee (23rd ITTC, 2002). A brief over-
view of numerical capability for predicting
ship wake flow is presented in the following
section.
6. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS:
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
6.1. Numerical Work
Current efforts in CFD will no doubt even-
tually lead to accurate computation of the
complete flow field around a ship at full scale.
Such flow includes the nominal and effective
wake field of a ship traveling at constant
speed in calm water, i.e. the onset flow neces-
sary for calculation of the flow over a cavitat-
ing propeller and subsequently the hull pres-
sure. At present, however, propeller designers
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and analysts tend to rely on model-scale
nominal wake surveys, possibly with a correc-
tion to full-scale effective wake.
One way of performing such a correction
is to use an Euler solver coupled with a pro-
peller vortex lattice or boundary element
method. Further investigation and validation
will show whether such methods will become
established procedure.
Calculation of propeller performance in a
spatially nonuniform inflow is usually done
with vortex-lattice or boundary-element
methods, the latter being state-of-the-art. Ef-
fects of hub, wake alignment, etc. are gener-
ally included.
Incorporating cavitation into the propeller
flow-field calculation is a main research area.
Sheet cavitation has been included with vary-
ing degrees of sophistication. Tip vortex cavi-
tation is being addressed. Much of the pub-
lished work concentrates on 2-D and 3-D hy-
drofoils to avoid the extra complication of
rotating blades. Most work uses potential
flow, but substantial effort is being devoted to
theoretical study of cavitation via CFD. The
CFD work is too immature for application to
hull pressure calculations.
Once the unsteady flow field of a cavitat-
ing propeller has been obtained, it appears
fairly straightforward to compute the pres-
sures on the hull. Yet few publications on this
problem have been found. One of those ad-
dressed application of simple, solid boundary
factors and concluded that the method was
inadequate.
Many papers report applications of meth-
ods for designing and analyzing propellers.
Such applications include optimization of
propellers with respect to efficiency and per-
formance, i.e. low-pressure pulses, including
innovative propulsors.
More details about the various develop-
ments are given in the following sections.
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Calculation of Wake
Calculation of the wake of a ship as input
in the form of onset flow to propeller calcula-
tions can be considered as a part of the task of
predicting the viscous flow over the entire
ship hull. Significant progress has been made
over the past two decades in the capability of
CFD, especially RANS methods, in such pre-
dictions. State-of-the-art CFD computations
were presented by 20 organizations at the
Göteborg 2000 workshop, known as the G2K
workshop (Larsson et al., 2000). The work-
shop dealt with three modern hull forms: a
tanker (VLCC), a container ship, and a naval
combatant. Detailed discussions were also
presented on numerics, physical modeling,
and verification/validation.
The presentations at that workshop indi-
cated an increased use of sophisticated turbu-
lence models, including two-equation and
Reynolds-stress models, compared to previous
similar workshops, and a clear correlation be-
tween model complexity and accuracy in the
predicted stern-flow results.
Overall, there was significant progress in
predicting the viscous ship flow. However,
prediction accuracy showed considerable sen-
sitivity to numerics, gridding, and turbulence
models. Further research is required to estab-
lish greater consistency and a well-defined
degree of accuracy in the computations of hull
wake.
Despite concerns about potential deteriora-
tion of the solution close to the hull using a
wall-function approach, Kim (2001) presented
a quite-realistic nominal wake of a tanker
model using a commercial code (FLUENT)
employing Reynolds-stress turbulence model
in conjunction with a wall function. The grid
size (maximum 193500 cells used) and com-
putational cost are considered to be moderate.
Hoekstra et al. (2001) reported a single-
screw hopper-dredger design for which the
usual model tests were not carried out. In-
437
stead, the RANS code, PARNASSOS
(MARIN) was used for a preliminary and
modified hullform. The propeller designer
was provided with the nominal wake fields
for both model and full-scale hulls, as well as
the flow field with propeller.
Once the nominal wake field has been ob-
tained, the transformation to effective wake
can be obtained, for instance, by the method
of Kinnas, Choi, Kosal, Young and Lee
(1999), a 3-D steady Euler procedure using a
finite-volume method coupled with a vortex-
lattice method. It is believed that viscosity
plays a major role in developing the nominal
wake, but contributes very little to the interac-
tion between the rotational inflow and the
propeller action.
Choi (2000) (see also Choi and Kinnas,
2000a, 2000b and 2001) developed a fully 3-
D unsteady Euler solver using a finite-volume
scheme and the pressure correction method.
The propeller was analyzed by the vortex-
lattice method and then modeled via unsteady
body-force terms in the Euler equations. Pre-
dicted cavity shapes and unsteady velocity
fields were compared with data measured in a
cavitating propeller experiment, with good
agreement. They suggested an improved
body-force model including blade thickness
for future research. That approach would also
allow for a consistent representation of un-
steady cavity shapes within the Euler-equation
solver.
Jensen et al. (2001) also used a similar
procedure for calculation of effective wake.
Calculation of Propeller Flow and Cavita-
tion
With the onset flow given, the flow over
the propeller, whether fully wetted or cavitat-
ing, is usually computed with vortex-lattice or
boundary-element methods. At present, pub-
lished RANS methods are limited to steady,
fully wetted (noncavitating) propeller analy-
sis.

438 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
Kinnas, Choi, Kosal Young and Lee
(1999) compared a vortex-lattice and a panel
method, both state-of-the-art (MPUF-3A and
PROPCAV). The methods include among
other things hub effect, sheet cavitation, and
wake alignment. It was shown that the two
methods agreed well with each other and with
experiments. The authors suggested, however,
that the faster vortex-lattice method be used
for predicting overall forces and cavity char-
acteristics with acceptable accuracy, and the
panel method for more-accurate local-flow
and pressure computations.
In general, tunnel wall effects are ne-
glected when computing the cavitation extent
and volume on a propeller operating in the
water tunnel. Those effects are, however, im-
portant, comprising blockage that may need to
be corrected for when applying model results
to full-scale conditions and when validating
computer programs using model test results. It
was shown by Choi and Kinnas (1997) that
the tunnel wall effects were significant in their
computations and that the predicted cavity
extent was in better agreement with the meas-
urements when the tunnel wall boundary con-
ditions and a downstream flux boundary con-
dition were included.
Further investigation of tunnel wall effects
on cavity-induced pressure was made by
Kimball et al. (1997). They extended the nu-
merical method of Choi and Kinnas (1997) by
including tunnel upstream and downstream
conditions based on a continuity argument
relating to the cavity volume flux. The com-
puted tunnel wall pressure using that method
was unrealistically high. To circumvent the
difficulty, they developed some ad hoc
boundary conditions for the upstream and
downstream lids. They also tried a boundary
condition on the tunnel windows by assuming
that the pulsating cavity flux was uniformly
absorbed by the vibrating Plexiglas window
of the MIT tunnel test section. Although those
new boundary conditions appear to be physi-
cally sound, the predicted tunnel wall pressure
was significantly different from the measured
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values. They recommended that effects of
tunnel vibration and acoustic impedance be
studied more thoroughly to better understand
the discrepancy between the numerical predic-
tions and experimental measurements. They
also suggested that the compressibility effect
might need to be accounted for.
Szantyr (2000) reviewed the state-of-the-
art of analytical methods for predicting pro-
peller cavitation and its consequences. The
methods comprised lifting-surface and bound-
ary-element methods, with RANS briefly
mentioned. Cavitation models included incep-
tion, sheet, bubble and cloud, and vortex cavi-
tation. For the latter type, the double-layer lift-
ing-surface model was mentioned as a more-
sophisticated approach to tip vortex cavitation
that should be well suited for incorporation
into a boundary-element model. Comparisons
between numerical and experimental results
were shown for cavitation inception, cavita-
tion extent and induced pressures, obtained by
vortex-lattice and boundary-element methods.
Kinnas and Pyo (1999) carried out theo-
retical analyses of a cavitating propeller to
examine the effects of blade wake-alignment
modeling. The wake model without alignment
gave propeller forces that were underpre-
dicted, whereas the cavity extent and volume
were not affected appreciably. The predicted
wake shape with full wake alignment com-
pared well with the measured shape. All
methods predicted the forces with acceptable
accuracy, especially in the range of design ad-
vance ratio. Those calculations were done for
uniform inflow. The examination also in-
cluded the propeller in inclined inflow. Wake
alignment was shown to influence the blade
forces as well as the cavity volume history.
Pyo and Suh (2000) used a low-order po-
tential-based boundary-element method to
predict the flow around a cavitating propeller
in steady or unsteady inflow. Hyperboloidal
panel geometry and a modified split-panel
method were used to improve the solution be-
havior near the tip. They applied the method
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to a number of cavitating hydrofoils and pro-
pellers in uniform and nonuniform inflow;
results agreed with those from other numeri-
cal methods and published experiments.
Kinnas et al. (2001) presented a vortex-
lattice method to predict the performance of
two-blade-row propulsors, including the ef-
fects of sheet cavitation. The effective wake
for each component was determined via an
unsteady Euler solver (Choi, 2000) in which
both components were represented by body
forces. An axisymmetric solver was used to
predict the mean performance of a contra-
rotating propulsor and of a pre-swirl sta-
tor/rotor combination. A non-axisymmetric
method was used for flow behind the pre-
swirl stator. A sample unsteady sheet cavity
was computed on the rotor blades operating in
the pre-swirl wake. More validations, espe-
cially for unsteady cavitating performance, are
required to validate the method for each blade
row of a two-stage propulsor.
Cavitating Foils
Many models for cavitating propeller flow
are first developed and tested on 2-D or 3-D
hydrofoils, to avoid the complication of pro-
peller geometry and of rotating flows. Current
published efforts have focused on improve-
ment of cavitation models on lifting surfaces.
These efforts concentrate mainly on profiles,
either 2-D or 3-D.
These activities can be subdivided into
two classes, of which one uses potential-flow
methods, typically boundary-element tech-
niques. Only sheet cavitation can be treated in
this way since, according to Kuiper (2001),
“for a long time the (sheet) cavity has been
considered as a single valued volume of va-
pour attached to the surface which can be cal-
culated by potential flow methods. This re-
quires an artificial closure condition at the
trailing edge of the cavity.” Extensions with
effects of viscosity included via boundary
layer and with cavitating tip vortex have also
been reported.
439
Esposito and Salvatore (2000) considered
optimization of propeller blade sections by
genetic algorithms. The aim of the optimiza-
tion was to reduce cavity extent, optionally
combined with drag reduction. The hydrody-
namic model was validated with other nu-
merical results and with experiments. Com-
parisons between cavity shapes and pressure
distributions for initial and optimized configu-
rations were shown.
Salvatore and Esposito (2001a) used a
boundary-element model to analyze partial
sheet cavitation on a 3-D hydrofoil, using a
closed-cavity nonlinear model. Viscous ef-
fects via boundary layer were included, as
well as wake alignment. Results for extent of
cavitation as well as tip vortex location com-
pared well with results from other experi-
ments and calculations.
Salvatore and Esposito (2001b) used a
viscous/inviscid technique to take into ac-
count viscosity effects in sheet cavitation on
propellers. First the inviscid cavitating flow
was modeled by a boundary-element approach
including a sheet cavitation model. Compari-
sons with experiments for a propeller in uni-
form inflow showed that the radial extent of
the cavity was predicted accurately, whereas
the chordwise extent was overestimated. Sub-
sequently a viscous-flow correction was made
by 2-D boundary layer theory over strips of
the propeller blade. Calculations were carried
out for a 3-D hydrofoil. The results were in
good agreement with experimental observa-
tions, demonstrating that viscosity effects are
fundamental for determining the exact loca-
tion of the cavity detachment position. A vali-
dation was reported underway for the case of
propellers.
Krisnaswamy et al. (2001) addressed par-
tial sheet cavitation on a two-dimensional hy-
drofoil with special attention to the re-entrant
jet. A boundary-element method (BEM) was
used. Calculated jet, cavity thickness and cav-
ity shapes were compared with other numeri-
cally obtained results from the literature. Pres-

440 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
sure distributions, calculated including effects
of viscosity, were in good agreement with
published experimental data.
Achkinadze and Krasilnikov (2001) used a
velocity-based boundary-element method to
compute partial cavities on hydrofoils and
propeller blades. The method used iterative
cavity alignment with free cavity length and
miscellaneous (closed/open) cavity closure
models. The results obtained were in agree-
ment with experiments and with results of o-
ther authors.
Ando and Nakatake (2001) used the sim-
ple surface-panel method SQCM (Source and
Quasi-Continuous vortex-lattice Method) for
unsteady sheet cavitation on a hydrofoil of
finite span. The cases examined included a
partially cavitating hydrofoil in heave motion,
as well as partially cavitating and supercavi-
tating hydrofoils in a sinusoidal gust. Results
were compared mainly with calculations of
other authors, confirming the accuracy of the
method.
Kinnas, Lee and Mueller (1999) consid-
ered cavitation on a non-rotating propeller
blade. They used a BEM and examined the
influence of walls as in a cavitation tunnel.
The cavitation model was fully 3-D sheet, and
included face in addition to back cavitation. A
model for a developed tip vortex cavity was
also presented.
Lee and Kinnas (2001) used a BEM for
modeling unsteady blade sheet and developed
tip vortex cavitation. The fully wetted prob-
lem was solved and the wake surface aligned,
including the trajectory of the tip vortex cav-
ity core. The shapes of the blade sheet and tip
vortex cavities were determined. Applications
comprise simplified 2-D vortex, 3-D elliptic
wing and propeller blades in inclined and non-
axisymmetric inflows. For the hydrofoil, the
computed trajectory of the tip vortex core
agreed well with experiments. For one propel-
ler, good agreement was found between ob-
served and predicted cavity shapes near the
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tip, and with clear convergence in the predic-
tion, unlike prediction without modeling the
tip vortex cavity. For a second propeller, the
BEM with full wake alignment gave more ac-
curate unsteady blade forces than a vortex-
lattice method, based on experiments. This
method would potentially be able to predict
the unsteady tip vortex cavitation and the re-
sulting hull pressure.
CFD techniques are used to study cavity
flows in greater detail than can be treated with
potential methods. In reported work, the Na-
vier-Stokes equations were coupled with a
cavity model, most often on the volume-
fraction or volume-of-fluid basis. The major-
ity of papers reviewed addressed 2-D prob-
lems. This way of computing cavity flows is
an extension of calculations with viscosity
(RANS). Such calculations for propellers are
mainly limited to the steady case. Further de-
velopment in computer technology and soft-
ware will no doubt be required before an un-
steady calculation is possible.
An intermediate step toward fully un-
steady calculations may be coupling of panel
and RANS methods. Chahine and Hsiao
(2000) coupled an unsteady RANS code and a
potential code (BEM) to model unsteady sheet
cavities in three dimensions. The RANS code
was used to describe the turbulent viscous
flow around the blade, while the BEM code
was used to describe the unsteady and nonlin-
ear cavity free surface. The method was used
to study sheet cavitation dynamics on a
straight and a twisted elliptical hydrofoil.
Hosangadi et al. (2001) presented a multi-
phase model for gas-liquid mixtures where
cavitation was modeled via a finite-rate
source term that initiated phase change. Re-
sults included a cavitating NACA 66 hydro-
foil. Good comparison was obtained with ex-
perimental data. In particular, the details of
the cavity closure and the re-entrant jet were
captured well.
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Tamura et al. (2001) modeled cavitation
using the dynamics of bubbles, representing
the gas phase as groups of many small and
locally uniform cavitation bubbles. They ap-
plied their procedure to 2-D and 3-D profiles,
obtaining qualitative agreement with experi-
ments.
Lohrberg et al. (2001) considered the un-
steady cavitating flow in a cascade of three
hydrofoils. They modeled the liquid-vapor
mixture as a homogenous medium, and de-
scribed it as a single fluid with varying spe-
cific mass and with a simple description of the
vaporization and condensation. The RANS
equations were then solved for this single
fluid. Experiments were also conducted, and
comparisons between numerical and experi-
mental results were given.
Iga et al. (2001) calculated 2-D unsteady
cavity flow in a cascade, with particular atten-
tion to instability phenomena of the sheet cav-
ity in transient cavitation and to the mecha-
nism of the break-off phenomenon. The gas-
liquid mixture of finite bubbles was approxi-
mated as an infinite number of infinitesimal
bubbles with the same void fraction. The local
mixture condition of the cavity was specified
in each computational cell. The governing 2-
D compressible Navier-Stokes equations were
then solved. Comparisons with experiment
confirmed that the method was fairly effective
in predicting the time-averaged characteristics
of single and cascade hydrofoils in noncavitat-
ing and cavitating conditions. The method
also simulated strong unsteady cavity flows
well.
Song and Qin (2001) applied a compressi-
ble Navier-Stokes code and a virtual single-
phase equation of state to cavitating flows a-
bout a 2-D hydrofoil. They addressed bubble
cavitation, bubble/cloud cavitation, she-
et/cloud cavitation and supercavitation. No
comparisons with experiments were pre-
sented.
441
Arndt et al. (2000) carried out an inte-
grated numerical/experimental investigation
of sheet cavitation and its transition to cloud
cavitation. The simulation methodology was
based on large-eddy simulation using a baro-
tropic phase model to couple the continuity
and momentum equations. Excellent agree-
ment with experiments was found.
Berntsen et al. (2001) used a commercial
CFD code, Fluent 5, to investigate flows over
a 2-D hydrofoil from inception to supercavita-
tion. They also performed calculations for a 3-
D hydrofoil with elliptical planform. Special
focus was placed on tip vortex strength and
lift variation with cavitation number. Both
were well predicted based on experimental
data.
Senocak and Shyy (2001) developed a
pressure-based algorithm to compute turbu-
lent sheet cavitating flows. Their model used
single-fluid Navier-Stokes equations with a
volume fraction transport equation. Applica-
tions included cavitation over a 2-D hydrofoil.
The overall behavior, including the pressure
distribution and cavity shape, was consistent
with experimental results.
Hull Pressure Calculations
With the flow field from the propeller
known in terms of potential and velocity, it is
straightforward to compute the pressure at any
point in an unbounded fluid by the unsteady
Bernoulli equation. This is the basis for the
application of solid-boundary factors repre-
senting the mirror effects of the hull and free
surface. Alternatively, acoustic modeling can
be applied. Also, a more-accurate calculation
of the hull surface pressure will require the
solution of the diffraction problem.
Bloor and Kinns (2000) used acoustic
boundary-element modeling techniques to ex-
amine cavitation-induced hull excitation.
They considered a simplified, rigid ship hull
and modeled the cavitating propeller as a sta-
tionary, fluctuating monopole source whose

442 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
strength was related to the varying cavity vol-
ume. This technique was also used to examine
the effect of shaft rotation direction (in-
ward/outward) in twin-screw ships (Kinns and
Bloor, 2000). The simplifications in the model
(hull and propeller) were made to aid under-
standing of how hull excitation is influenced
by cavitation location and oscillation fre-
quency, and to illustrate application of bound-
ary-element techniques. The authors plan to
use the same techniques for realistic hull de-
signs.
Nakatake et al. (2000) considered the
pressure induced on a flat plate above a wing
in a sinusoidal gust. The wing was repre-
sented by source distributions on the surface
and discrete vortex distributions on the cam-
ber surface. The pressure on the flat plate was
calculated by four different methods: mirror
image, solid boundary factor, source distribu-
tion (on the plate) and quasi-continuous vor-
tex, where the plate is treated as a thin wing.
They considered both 2-D and 3-D cases for
the foil in a gust with and without varying
thickness, modeling the effects of a time-
varying cavity. No model test results were
given. They concluded that the solid-
boundary-factor and mirror-image methods
are less applicable.
Empirical Methods
Few empirical methods for calculation of
hull pressures have recently been reported.
Koushan et al. (2000) gave results of their
empirical method for predicting pressure
pulses due to a noncavitating and a cavitating
propeller. They used an artificial neural net-
works method for analyzing a database that
consists of 359 measurements for the single-
screw case and 155 for twin-screw.
Applications of Numerical Methods
There were also found in the recent litera-
ture notable applications of numerical meth-
ods, often supplemented by experiments.
These applications dealt with practical prob-
23rd International
Towing Tank
Conference
lems for naval architects and propeller hydro-
dynamicists, including designing an optimum
propeller for a given ship with respect to effi-
ciency and pressure signature, providing data
for a structural vibration analysis, and evaluat-
ing unconventional propulsors. The methods
used were not necessarily new, although gen-
erally state-of-the-art, and had been previ-
ously evaluated with respect to accuracy.
Meyne et al. (2000) described the design
procedure for the propellers for a series of
large reefer container ships. They detailed the
specifications, design considerations, and test
results including powering, cavitation per-
formance, and vibration excitation with three
different model propellers. The pressure
pulses were predicted by an empirical method
as well as by lifting-surface theory. Results
from measurements in the large cavitation
tunnel HYKAT were also presented. The nu-
merical method used did not predict the same
details observed during the experiments.
However, the cavitation behavior of the three
propellers, the differences in cavitation behav-
ior, and the hull pressures were generally well
predicted.
Kawakita and Hoshino (1999) described a
design system for marine propellers with new
blade sections. The propeller flow was ana-
lyzed with a lifting-surface method (Quasi-
Continuous Method) coupled with a proce-
dure for minimizing cavitation. For instance,
the pressure distributions on the back side of
the propeller were prescribed as flatter and
higher at the section leading edge than those
of NACA blade sections. Results of cavitation
tests show generally lower pressure peaks for
the cases presented.
Jensen et al. (2001) presented a survey of
propeller cavitation performance measured at
model and full scale, supplemented with cal-
culations. The calculations were made with a
panel method and a simple model of the sheet
cavitation extent. The effective wake was cal-
culated with a procedure similar to that of
Choi and Kinnas (2000b). The hull-pressure
 23rd International
Towing Tank Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II
Conference
pulses and integrated forces were calculated
by including the combined hull-propeller im-
age diffraction problem. Cavitating as well as
noncavitating contributions to the pressure
distributions were shown. Two different pro-
peller designs were evaluated, turning both
inward and outward. Maximum calculated
pressure pulses were found to be considerably
higher than the contribution from cavitation,
but the spatial extension was greater for the
cavitation contribution. Only sheet cavitation
was dealt with. Furthermore, structural con-
siderations were outlined in the paper.
Andersen et al. (2000) showed results of
measured and calculated pressure amplitudes
on a ship hull due to Kappel (tip fin) and con-
ventional propellers. The calculations were
made by a BEM for the noncavitating propel-
ler coupled with 2-D calculations for the cavi-
tating blade sections. Comparisons with ex-
periments were shown but were less satisfac-
tory in some cases.
Takinaci and Atlar (2002) assessed the
performance of a thrust-balanced propeller,
where the pair of blades can rotate together
about the spindle axis. They use a lifting-
surface model for a conventional fixed-pitch
propeller with cavitation, coupled with a sim-
plified model of the pitching blades. Results
included cavitation extent and hull pressures.
The concept needs to be proved through
physical model tests, which are planned to be
done in a cavitation tunnel.
Onofrei et al. (2000) described a method
for predicting unsteady pressures and surface
forces on wide flat-afterbody ships, especially
in cavitating conditions, in early stages of a
ship project. The theory relied on a number of
simplifications including lifting-line modeling
with lifting-surface correction factors, 2-D
profile theory for cavitating sections and
solid-boundary factors. Good correlation with
experiment at the first and the second blade-
rate frequency was found.
443
6.2. Experimental Work
Kimball et al. (1997) presented measure-
ments of the fluctuating pressure on the tunnel
wall above a cavitating propeller operating in
a screen-generated wake. They reported that
the tunnel-wall vibration could have a signifi-
cant influence on the fluctuating pressure
measured on the tunnel wall. It was suggested
that the effect of tunnel vibration be sub-
tracted from the measured pressure to isolate
the pure cavitation effect.
Korkut et al. (2000) explored the effect of
free-stream turbulence on tip vortex cavitation
inception and noise generation. Free-stream
turbulence was controlled in a cavitation tun-
nel using different wire mesh screens. Results
pointed out that free-stream turbulence is an
important parameter influencing cavitation
inception. The effect on cavitation inception
was found to be similar to that of leading edge
roughness.
Ingenito et al. (2000) performed LDV
measurement in the wake of an installed pro-
peller. The velocity field during the propeller
revolution was resolved and was correlated
with the pressure measured on the hull. The
correlation function between the velocity at a
point and the pressure on the hull showed the
importance of the tip vortex in the generation
of pressure fluctuations, including for non-
cavitating conditions.
Johannsen (2000) showed the importance
of simulating the 3-D inflow to the propeller
when measuring pressure fluctuation. Such
simulation enables determining the effect of
propeller rotational direction on cavitation-
induced pressure, and the effect of adoption of
a vortex-generation fin for pressure-pulse re-
duction. Such studies were cited as examples
of studies that can be performed only in a
large cavitation facility using a full-ship
model.
Friesch (2000) reviewed the capability for
pressure pulse tests in the HYKAT cavitation
 23rd International
444 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures Towing Tank
Conference

tunnel, based on model-full scale correlation affected by the size of the facility test section
during the past ten years of operation. (blockage effects), the method of wake simu-
lation, and operation at very low Reynolds
Atlar et al. (2001) presented the noise number.
measurement on a fisheries research vessel
Model-scale measurements should also
propeller. The results were extrapolated to full
consider the influence of experimental bound-
scale using the scaling law recommended by
ary conditions: solid-boundary factors, hull
18th ITTC and compared with full-scale
vibration, and free-surface effects, before
measurements.
comparison with full-scale pressure levels.
Kuiper (2001) reviewed the broadband ex-
High-frequency excitation due to tip vor-
citation due to a bursting tip vortex. He men-
tex cavitation must be considered during test-
tioned that the broadband excitation can only
ing.
be captured by narrow-band analysis of time
series.
Measurement of unsteady hull pressures at
full and model scale should be accompanied
Kimball et al. (2001) presented detailed
by propeller cavitation viewing and hull-
flow measurements on a stationary 3-D hydro-
surface vibration measurements.
foil, representing a typical modern naval pro-
peller blade, in the MIT water tunnel. The de-
Calculations are done mostly with vortex-
tailed structure of the tip vortex flow was
lattice or panel methods, and in most cases
measured using LDV and documented for
only sheet cavitation is included. With the
cavitating and non-cavitating conditions. The
propeller and cavity flows obtained, hull-
information will be useful for the validation
pressure fluctuation predictions are made gen-
of numerical modeling of tip vortex flow and
erally based on the unsteady Bernoulli equa-
cavitation.
tion.

The influence of the unsteady effective

7. GENERAL TECHNICAL
wake on the pressure fluctuations is not con-
CONCLUSIONS
sidered realistically in the present calculation
methods.
Propeller-excited hull pressure fluctua-
tions are strongly influenced by intermittence
RANS simulations are still not able to
of sheet cavitation, the dynamics of tip vortex
predict unsteady cavitation correctly. But the
cavitation, and the statistical properties of the
trend of CFD applications toward 2-D and 3-
cavitation. On modern propellers, tip vortex
D cavitating hydrofoils shows the great poten-
cavitation may be even more important than
tial of those codes for propeller applications
sheet cavitation for hull pressure fluctuation.
as well.
The influence of turbulence and blade sur-
face roughness on cavitation-induced pressure For all numerical predictions, potential
fluctuations is still not quantifiable. methods as well as RANS, it is important that
the cavitation simulation is fully unsteady,
Both experimental and numerical proce-
particularly if higher harmonics are aimed at.
dures for predicting propeller excitation need
to be validated using results of sophisticated
Propeller design procedures should be ca-
full-scale investigations.
pable of handling problems with higher-
In model-scale testing, the levels of un- harmonic frequency excitation in addition to
steady pressure amplitudes can be seriously minimizing blade-rate pressure fluctuations.
 23rd International
Towing Tank Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II
Conference
8. RECOMMENDATIONS TO THE
CONFERENCE
Adopt the Procedure, “Propulsion; Cavita-
tion-Induced Pressure Fluctuations, Numeri-
cal Prediction Methods” 7.5-02-03-03.4.
Adopt the Procedure, “Propulsion; Cavita-
tion-Induced Pressure Fluctuations, Model
Scale Experiments” 7.5-02-03-03.3
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Towing Tank
Conference
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Towing Tank Proceedings of the 23rd ITTC – Volume II
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Weitendorf, E.A., and Tanger, H., 1992,
“Cavitation correlation and nuclei investi-
gations in two water tunnels − Compari-
sons in the HYKAT and the medium size
tunnel”, Cavitation, Proc. of the Institution
of Mechanical Engineers, ImechE 1992-
11, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Wereldsma, R., 1981, “Experiments and in-
terpretation of propeller vibratory hull
pressures on an elastic structure of a ship
model”, Int. Shipbuilding Progress, Vol.
28, No. 323.
Wilson, M., 1991, “Selected Elementary Cri-
teria for Evaluating Propeller – Induced
Surface Force Excitation”, Phil. Trans.
Royal Soc., Vol. 334, London, UK, pp.
319-337.
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The Specialist Committee on
Cavitation Induced Pressures
Committee Chair: Mr. Jürgen Friesch (HSVA)
Session Chair: Prof. Hiroharu Kato (Toyo University)
I. DISCUSSIONS
I.1. Discussion on the Report of the 23rd
ITTC Secialist Committee on
Cavitation Induced Pressures:
Uncertainty of pressure fluctuation
predictions
By: Erik van Wijngaarden, MARIN, The
Netherlands
The committee is to be complimented on
providing the ITTC membership with a nice
overview of the state-of-the-art in the prediction
of pressure fluctuations on the hull. After having
read the report and accompanying procedures I
still have this question: can the specialist com-
mittee quantify in any way the accuracy with
which predictions can be made when following
the guidelines put forward in their procedures?
To be more specific, what uncertainty may the
user of pressure fluctuation predictions expect in
e.g. the cases of the mentioned ROPAX ferries
or POSTPANAMAX container ships? The
committee states in its introduction that it is dif-
ficult to agree on a widely accepted standard
when it comes to judging pressure of force lev-
els. Despite this fact, the committee may have an
opinion on what basis a sound judgement needs
to be made. Is it the integrated force on the hull
that matters, or can vibration risk (given certain
hull response characteristics) be based on the
maximum pressure level alone? If the latter is
the case then on which level should it be based:
simply the maximum total pressure or rather the
713
difference between that pressure and its non-
cavitating counterpart?
I.2. Discussion on the Report of the 23rd
ITTC Secialist Committee on
Cavitation Induced Pressures:
Interpretation of measured pressure
amplitude
By: Jan Holtrop, MARIN, The Netherlands
I like to come back to the contribution of
my colleague Erik van Wijngaarden about the
judgement of the results of pressure measure-
ments.
If the excitation force is not the result of the
pressure measurement and a judgement is to be
made on the basis of the pressure amplitudes,
some indication should be given how these pres-
sure amplitudes should be interpreted. This is
because in the excitation process non-cavitating
contributions and contributions from the dynam-
ics of the cavities differ essentially and, hence, a
clear distinction should be made. Contributions
from the cavitation show a uniform phase,
whereas the non-cavitating contributions lead to
a spatially varied phase. Due to these phase dif-
ferences contributions to the excitation from the
non-cavitating propeller tend to cancel, while
contributions from the dynamics of the cavita-
tion add up in the integration to the excitation
force. Consequently, contributions from the
cavitation lead to a much greater impact on the
vibration excitation.

714 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
Further guidance in this respect, to be
given by a future committee, would be very
welcome.
I.3. Discussion on the Report of the 23rd
ITTC Secialist Committee on
Cavitation Induced Pressures:
Cavitation instability
By: Nenad Bobanac, Brodarski Institut,
Croatia
The report gives an overview of the re-
search in a variety of important issues. Unfor-
tunately, because of various reasons Brodarski
Institut was not participating in data gathering
for this Proceedings, but we would like now
to contribute with model and full scale ex-
perimental methods, signal processing and
data representation as well as full scale photo-
graphs and VCR records of cavitation pat-
terns.
I would particularly like to stress the prob-
lem of Cavitation Instability and Statistical
Properties of the Cavitation Process that is
reflecting on stochastic nature of pressure
pulse signals that was in focus of our interest
as it is mentioned in Section 5.1 (Comments
on the Experimental Procedure). What we
found was that the statistical distributions of
the FFT spectral BF and higher harmonics
were not with Gaussian distribution but the
majority of cases had Rayleigh distribution.
That was supporting observations from SSPA
and has to be taken into account when we de-
cide parameters to be used in model-full scale
correlation procedure. Necessity for analysing
stochastic nature of the cavitation-induced
pressure process requires some new demands
on instrumentation arrangement, e.g. A/D
conversion and signal processing. Our experi-
ence is described in the following references.
References
Bobanac, N., 1995, “Hulpres Program Package
for Statistical Analysis of Propeller In-
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duced Hull Pressure Signals”, IMAM’95,
Dubrovnik, Croatia, April 1995.
Bobanac, N., 1993, “Ship Screw Propeller
Cavitation Recording with Angle Sam-
pling Control”, ELMAR, Zadar, Croatia.
Bobanac, N., 1989, “On Distribution of Pres-
sure Pulse Harmonic Amplitudes Induced
by a Screw Propeller on a Ship Hull”, 13th
International Congress on Acoustics, Bel-
grade, Yugoslavia.
Bobanac, N., and Kramar, M., 1996, “Ship
Screw Propeller Model / Full Scale Pres-
sure Field Correlation and Integration”,
ELMAR, Zadar, Croatia.
Bobanac, N., Kramar, M., Tasic, J., Prezel,
V., and Ruzic, S., 2000, “Pressure Pulses
Distribution Induced by a Propeller on the
Hull of a Reefer”, Brodogradnja 48/2.
II. COMMITTEE REPLIES
II.1. Reply of the 23rd ITTC Specialist
Committee on Cavitation Induced
Pressures to Erik van Wijngarden
Mr. van Wijngaarden’s question about the
accuracy and uncertainty of the predictions is
quite relevant to the ITTC community. The
uncertainty of pressure pulse predictions is
highly related to cavitation behaviours and
ship model configuration, a fact implying that
it can vary significantly between propeller op-
eration conditions and experimental set ups.
To cover this and also give sense to numerical
values of acceptable uncertainties needs an
extensive analysis of the type proposed by
Stern et al. (2001). Due to the complexity of
the problem and space needed for its discus-
sion the committee agreed to the general dis-
cussion in section 5.1 of the final report and
the limited comments made in ITTC Recom-
mended Procedures 7.5-02-03-03.3 (Sect.
2.5.3) and 7.5-02-03-03.3 (Sect. 4.1). The
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committee thinks that it is at this stage hardly
possible to be much more precise in the speci-
fication of uncertainty margins.
We can possibly provide some sample
data with observed uncertainties but that will
not make much sense. A main reason for the
last statement is the embarrassing fact that
really well defined pressure pulse amplitudes
are seldom known, except possibly for a few
cases, as when the pressure is measured in a
stiff centre line point just above the propeller
on a fully-loaded super-tanker, for example.
Mainly in that type of conditions can the
boundary conditions at the hull be supposed to
be very close to each other at model and full
scale and without a good control of this pa-
rameter direct comparisons of pressure pulses
at model and full-scale are doubtful. This is
also a major pedagogical problem. To en-
hance our knowledge base, a further devel-
opment of practical methods suggested, for
example, by Huse & Guoqiang (1982) and
others may be needed.
The committee welcomes a procedure of
the type suggested by Stern et al. (2001) but
we also think that work also remains to esti-
mate individual sources, as those related to
the boundary conditions, scale effects of sta-
tistical properties of the cavitation etc.
One has to be satisfied if full scale ampli-
tudes at blade frequency and second harmonic
of pressure pulses are between 0.8 and 1.2 of
the model values, at least when cavitation is
involved. Of course often much better but also
sometimes worse results are obtained. When
cavitation is not a dominating contribution
better agreement would be expected, provided
background is not a problem. The uncertainty
margin for relative comparisons of different
designs has to be estimated by experience and
repeated experiments in the test facility.
References
Stern, F., Wilson, R.V., Coleman, H., and
Paterson, E., 2001, “Comprehensive Ap-
715
proach to Verification and Validation of
CFD Simulations – Part 1: Methodology
and Procedures,” ASME Journal of Fluids
Engineering.
Huse, E., and Guoqiang, G., 1982, “Cavita-
tion-induced excitation forces on the
hull,” Transactions, SNAME, Vol. 90, pp.
85-109.
II.2. Reply of the 23rd ITTC Specialist
Committee on Cavitation Induced
Pressures to Jan Holtrop
In numerical predictions it is natural and
easy to separate the contribution from the
non-cavitating and cavitating propeller, re-
spectively. To some extent this is possible
also in experimental predictions. Numerical
methods could be the best choice for non-
cavitating propellers and for checking the con-
tribution from the non-cavitating propeller in
the case of small cavitation. The pressure field
in space and time is better represented nu-
merically. If no hull is included a true free-
field pressure is obtained that can be the input
to an acoustic simulation to take account for
the hull and free surface. It is difficult to esti-
mate in general the accuracy of numerical
predictions for a cavitating propeller since it
depends on whether or not the method can
address the type of cavitation in question.
II.3. Reply of the 23rd ITTC Specialist
Committee on Cavitation Induced
Pressures to Nenad Bobanac
The information presented by Dr. Bobanac
are interesting because they support the idea
that vibration prediction would not necessarily
be based on simple mean values, particularly
not at higher harmonics. As indicated in the
committee report, with the present knowledge
it is difficult to find a general standard proce-
dure. The recommendation is therefore that
this type of analysis is desireable but should

716 The Specialist Committee on Cavitation Induced Pressures
be presented as a supplement to a standard
analysis based on mean values.
As discussed in the committee report there
are different possible sources for different sta-
tistical properties of model and full-scale sig-
nals. Some may be fundamental and generate
genuine scale effects while others may be the
result of conditions at a particular test, at
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model or full-scale. Worth to notice also is
that the response of the structure, and
cargo/crew/passengers as well, can be differ-
ent for very different statistical distributions,
that is a reason to keep these problems in
mind.