Cavitation Inception and Head Loss Due to Liquid Flow Through Perforated Plates of Varying Thickness

This paper reports results of an experimental investigation of the loss coefficient and onset of cavitation caused by water flow through perforated plates of varying thickness and flow area to pipe area ratio at high speeds. The overall plate loss coefficient, point of cavitation inception, and point where critical cavitation occurs are functions of perforation hole size, number of holes, and plate thickness. Sixteen total plates were considered in the study with the total perforation hole area to pipe area ratio ranging from 0.11 and 0.6, the plate thickness to perforation hole diameter ranging from 0.25 to 3.3, and the number of perforation holes ranging from 4 to 1800. The plates were mounted in the test section of a closed water flow loop. The results reveal a complex dependency between the plate loss coefficient with total free-area ratio and the plate thickness to perforation hole diameter ratio. In general, the loss coefficient decreases with increasing free-area ratio and increasing thickness-to-hole diameter ratio. A model based on the data is presented that predicts the loss coefficient for multiholed perforated plates with nonrounded holes. Furthermore, the data show that the cavitation number at the points of cavitation inception and critical cavitation increases with increasing free-area ratio. However, with regard to the thickness-to-hole diameter ratio, the cavitation number at inception exhibits a local maximum at a ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Empirical models to allow prediction of the point of cavitation inception and the point where critical cavitation begins are presented and compared to single hole orifice plate behavior.