The results from two different methods for the analysis of cavitating propellers are found to be similar to each other in terms of cavity shapes but to defer from each other in terms of cavity volume velocities. The effect of the cavity detachment location on the blade cavity extent and size is found to be substantial. The flow contraction at the blade tip is found to increase the predicted tip cavity volume when included in the vortex-lattice method. Finally, an optimization technique is shown to be a viable method for the systematic design of efficient cavitating propulsors.
Future efforts should address the modeling of (a) developed tip vortex, midchord and bubble cavitation, (b) non-axisymmetric inflow vorticity /propeller interaction (also called the unsteady effective wake problem), and (c) constraints in the design process to avoid geometries that result to excessive sheet, tip, or bubble cavitation.