Abstract：To analyze unsteady cavitating flow and its static pressure pulsation characteristics in the inducer of turbo-pump, the cavitation characteristics of an inducer were numerically predicted based on the turbulence model with rotation and streamline curvature corrections and compared with the experimental results. The maximum error of head coefficient between prediction and measurement is 3.6%, suggesting excellent agreement with the experimental results. The numerical results show that cavitating bubbles are mainly distributed at the leading edge of blade near the tip in the inducer under typical operating conditions and the cavity pattern varies from one blade to another continuously with time.During one rotating cycle, the vortex cavitation rotates with the inducer in the same direction at a far less rotating speed than that of inducer. The analysis of pressure fluctuation characteristics shows that the inlet pressure fluctuation in the inducer is mainly affected by blade rotation and the power spectral density distribution exhibits significant peaks at blade passing frequency. The pressure at the exitof inducer is higher but its fluctuation amplitude is relatively small.
