• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.60 no.5
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• pp.296-304
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• 2023

Cavitation tests for a waterjet propulsor of an amphibious vehicle are carried out in the Large Cavitation Tunnel. Waterjet pump performances and cavitation characteristics including thrust breakdown performances are investigated in the tests. In addition, cavitation characteristics for waterjet propulsors working inside the intake are calculated by using a commercial CFD code, Star-CCM+. Sliding mesh is implemented to a rotating impeller and the k-epsilon turbulence model is chosen. Cavitation bubble growth and collapse are estimated using the Schnerr-Sauer cavitation model based on Rayleigh-Plasset equation. Calculated results agree fairly well with experimental results. The re-design of the waterjet propulsor is performed to enhance waterjet cavitating performances and calculated results show that waterjet thrust breakdown characteristics are significantly improved.