The tip-leakage vortex (TLV) cavitation is a challenging issue for a variety of axial hydraulic turbines and pumps from both technical and scientific viewpoints. The flow characteristics of the TLV cavitation were widely studied in the past decades, but the knowledge about the tip-leakage cavitating flow is still limited. The present paper reviews the progresses in the researches of the TLV cavitation, including the numerical methods for the TLV cavitation, the flow characteristics of the TLV, the influences of the TLV cavitation on the local flow field and the control strategies of the TLV cavitation. It is indicated that the non-condensable gas may play an important role in the development of the TLV cavitation, and this fact should be considered during a careful simulation of the TLV cavitation. It is also suggested that the development of the TLV cavitation will significantly influence the distributions of the vorticity and the turbulence kinetic energy. Due to the complexity of the TLV cavitation, it is still an open question how to suppress the TLV cavitation in a simple but effective way. Finally, based on these understandings, some advanced topics for the future work are suggested to further promote the study of the TLV cavitation, for a deeper knowledge about the TLV cavitation.

从技术和科学的角度来看，对于各种轴流式水力涡轮机和泵，叶尖泄漏涡流（TLV）空化是一个具有挑战性的问题。在过去的几十年中，TLV空化的流动特性得到了广泛的研究，但是关于尖端泄漏空化流动的知识仍然有限。本文综述了TLV空化的研究进展，包括TLV空化的数值方法，TLV的流动特性，TLV空化对局部流场的影响以及TLV空化的控制策略。结果表明不可冷凝气体可能在TLV空化过程中起重要作用，在仔细模拟TLV空化过程中应考虑到这一事实。还表明，TLV空化的发展将显着影响涡度和湍动能的分布。由于TLV空化的复杂性，如何以简单但有效的方式抑制TLV空化仍然是一个悬而未决的问题。最后，在这些理解的基础上，提出了一些有关未来工作的高级主题，以进一步促进TLV空化的研究，从而获得有关TLV空化的更深入的知识。