In order to explore the characteristics of the waterjet of central-body cavitation nozzle and improve the waterjet efficiency, a new type of central-body cavitation nozzle was designed. The waterjet erosion performance of the central-body cavitation nozzle is studied experimentally making use of erosion target, analyse the influence of spray duration, inlet pressure and target distance on the erosion performance. The results are compared with the waterjet erosion performance of angular nozzle and submerged cavitation nozzle. The research shows that the erosion capacity of the central-body cavitation nozzle and the submerged cavitation nozzle is about 1.5~2 times that of the angular nozzle under the same pump pressure condition. When the inlet pressure is less than 20 MPa, the erosion capacity of the center-body nozzle is stronger than that of the submerged cavitation nozzle. With the increasing pressure, the erosion capacity of the submerged cavitation nozzle is stronger than that of the central-body nozzle; at the same time the erosion capacity of the central-body nozzle becomes weaker. Under lower pressure conditions, the central-body nozzle waterjet has better bundling effect. In the non-submerged condition, the optimal target range for the newly-designed central-body nozzle by the laboratory is between 2 mm and 14 mm. The newly designed central-body cavitation nozzle has good erosion performance under lower pressure conditions, has strong applicability, and therefore has broad application prospects.