TRIBOLOGY

Cavitation

Teacher: Mrs.Hair
Student: Nguyen Bui The Bao
Contents
TRIBOLOGY......................................................................1
Cavitation...........................................................................1
Teacher: Mrs.Hair................................................................1
Student: Nguyen Bui The Bao.................................................1
I. Cavitation:......................................................................3
II. The phase diagram of water:............................................4
III. Reasons for cavitation:....................................................5
IV. Piping system:...............................................................7
V. Formation and the collapse of cavitation bubbles:...................9
VI. Cavitation erosion:.......................................................10
VII. Summary:..................................................................11
VIII. References:...............................................................11
 I. Cavitation:

Cavitation is a rapid formation and collapse of bubbles within a liquid such

cavitation form mainly location within the liquid where static pressure becomes
smaller than a liquid vapor pressure. It usually occurs when a liquid is subjected to
rapid changes of pressure that cause the formation of cavities where the pressure is
relatively low. When subjected to higher pressure, the voids implode and can
generate an intense shock wave.
Cavitation is a significant cause of wear in some engineering contexts. Collapsing
voids that implode near to a metal surface cause cyclic stress through repeated
implosion. This results in surface fatigue of the metal causing a type of wear also
called "cavitation". The most common examples of this kind of wear are to pump
impellers, and bends where a sudden change in the direction of liquid occurs.
Cavitation is usually divided into two classes of behavior: inertial (or transient)
cavitation and non-inertial cavitation.
Inertial cavitation is the process where a void or bubble in a liquid rapidly
collapses, producing a shock wave. Inertial cavitation occurs in nature in the
strikes of mantis shrimps and pistol shrimps, as well as in the vascular tissues of
plants. In man-made objects, it can occur in control valves, pumps, propellers and
impellers.
Non-inertial cavitation is the process in which a bubble in a fluid is forced to
oscillate in size or shape due to some form of energy input, such as an acoustic
field. Such cavitation is often employed in ultrasonic cleaning baths and can also
be observed in pumps, propellers, etc.
 II. The phase diagram of water:

The phase diagram of water shows if water is in its gaseous liquid or solid state
depending on temperature and pressure the horizontal axes of a diagram represents
temperature the vertical axis shows pressure. The water pressure curve is part of a
phase diagram it indicates at which pressures and temperatures water evaporates
from liquid to vapor or condenses from liquid.
At a constant pressure of one bar absolute water in its solid state which is ice melts
the liquid water at a temperature of zero degrees Celsius. Keeping the pressure
constant at one bar absolute liquid water evaporates when the temperature is
increased above 100 degrees Celsius.
Evaporation of water is not only possible when the temperature is increased at a
constant pressure the other possibility is to keep the temperature constant and
reduce the pressure below the water pressure. Water can evaporate and condensate
at temperatures below 100 degrees Celsius. If a static pressure is low enough. This
is exactly what happens when cavitation occurs.
 III. Reasons for cavitation:
- Static pressure decreases below the vapor pressure
- Other factor such as fluid contamination and dissolved gas in the fluid are
neglected
=>formation of vapor bubbles
bubbles of water vapor perform when the pressure in a certain location
decreases below the water pressure the water condensates back to liquid once a
bubble has reached a location with a pressure above the water pressure.
Other ways of generating cavitation voids involve the local deposition of
energy, such as an intense focused laser pulse (optic cavitation) or with an
electrical discharge through a spark. Vapor gases evaporate into the cavity from the
surrounding medium; thus, the cavity is not a perfect vacuum, but has a relatively
low gas pressure. Such a low-pressure bubble in a liquid begins to collapse due to
the higher pressure of the surrounding medium. As the bubble collapses, the
pressure and temperature of the vapor within increases. The bubble eventually
collapses to a minute fraction of its original size, at which point the gas within
dissipates into the surrounding liquid via a rather violent mechanism which
releases a significant amount of energy in the form of an acoustic shock wave and
as visible light. At the point of total collapse, the temperature of the vapor within
the bubble may be several thousand kelvin, and the pressure several hundred
atmospheres.
Inertial cavitation can also occur in the presence of an acoustic field.
Microscopic gas bubbles that are generally present in a liquid will be forced to
oscillate due to an applied acoustic field. If the acoustic intensity is sufficiently
high, the bubbles will first grow in size and then rapidly collapse. Hence, inertial
cavitation can occur even if the rarefaction in the liquid is insufficient for a
Rayleigh-like void to occur. High-power ultrasonic usually utilize the inertial
cavitation of microscopic vacuum bubbles for treatment of surfaces, liquids, and
slurries.
The physical process of cavitation inception is similar to boiling. The major
difference between the two is the thermodynamic paths that precede the formation
of the vapor. Boiling occurs when the local vapor pressure of the liquid rises above
its local ambient pressure and sufficient energy is present to cause the phase
change to a gas. Cavitation inception occurs when the local pressure falls
sufficiently far below the saturated vapor pressure, a value given by the tensile
strength of the liquid at a certain temperature.
In order for cavitation inception to occur, the cavitation "bubbles" generally
need a surface on which they can nucleate. This surface can be provided by the
sides of a container, by impurities in the liquid, or by small undissolved
microbubbles within the liquid. It is generally accepted that hydrophobic surfaces
stabilize small bubbles. These pre-existing bubbles start to grow unbounded when
they are exposed to a pressure below the threshold pressure, termed Blake's
threshold.
The vapor pressure here differs from the meteorological definition of vapor
pressure, which describes the partial pressure of water in the atmosphere at some
value less than 100% saturation. Vapor pressure as relating to cavitation refers to
the vapor pressure in equilibrium conditions and can therefore be more accurately
defined as the equilibrium (or saturated) vapor pressure.
Non-inertial cavitation is the process in which small bubbles in a liquid are
forced to oscillate in the presence of an acoustic field, when the intensity of the
acoustic field is insufficient to cause total bubble collapse. This form of cavitation
causes significantly less erosion than inertial cavitation, and is often used for the
cleaning of delicate materials, such as silicon wafers.
IV. Piping system:

When pumps circulate water through piping systems cavitation can occur
whether pressures lowest at the end of pump and a narrow pipe sections if the
pressure at the inlet of the pump is low and approaches the water pressure
cavitation can occur at the pump impeller as we have seen it at the ship's
propeller the pump can deliver less water because the cavitation bubbles
occupier part of a cross sections where the water should flow damage from
collapsing waiver bubbles

The same amount of water for time flows through the pipe with a large cross-
section as through the narrow cross section. Therefore the velocity is higher in
the narrow part and the static pressure is lower the pressure is especially low at
the exposed edge at the inflow side of a neuro part.
a detail of diagram of water more water which allows to analyze the situation in
a narrow pipe section the temperature of a flowing water can be 20 degrees
Celsius which is a vertical line in the diagram it crosses the way pressure line at
an absolute pressure of 2,300 pascal as long as the pressure is higher order
remain slick wit if the absolute pressure decreases below 2300 Pa water
evaporates

the low pressure at the exposed edge courses cavitation bubbles to form at a
pressure of 2,300 the skull a certain mass of water vapor requires over 50,000
times more volume then in its liquid state the bubbles collapse as soon as a
reach a region with a pressure above the water pressure because water from the
water bubble occupies 50,000 times less volume after having condenses liquid
state the collapse of each bubble is a spectacular event and emits pressure shots
from many collapses result in an ottoman is very characteristic to cavitation
 V. Formation and the collapse of cavitation bubbles:
Formation and the collapse of cavitation bubbles with a diameter of approximately
nine millimeters in slow motion in real time this process takes about four
milliseconds and it is a spectacular physical event because liquid water occupies
many thousand times less volume than water the bubble implodes it first assumes a
ring shape shock waves and the strong micro-jet are the result of a collapse.
If the local pressure decreases below the water pressure water evaporates a
cavitation bubble is forming is growing larger and is transported with the flow to a
region with a higher pressure. The bubble stops growing if a local pressure exceeds
the water pressure vapor condenses starting from the bubbles wall. Its surface starts
to break down at its weakest spot a microchip forms and pieces into the bubbles
opposite surface the bubble is now collapsing. The bubble becomes a torus and is
integrates further the microchip continues to flow in the liquid and can hit a wall
through its concentrated impact even high strength material can be damaged
 VI. Cavitation erosion:
Cavitation erosion is the process of surface deterioration and surface material loss
due to the generation of vapor or gas pockets inside the flow of liquid. These
pockets are formed due to low pressure well below the saturation vapor pressure of
the liquid and erosion caused by the bombardment of vapor bubbles on the surface.
Cavitation erosion usually involves an attack on the surface by gas or vapor
bubbles, creating a sudden collapse due to a change in pressure near the surface.
Low pressure (below the saturated vapor pressure) is generated hydro-dynamically,
due to various flow parameters, such as liquid viscosity, temperature, pressure and
nature of flow. This deterioration is initiated by a sudden surge of bubbles
hammering the surface, resulting in deformation, as well as pitting.
Cavitation erosion can occur on the surfaces of metals and nonmetals. It may
produce undesirable noise levels and reduce the useful life of very valuable
property. Noise created due to cavitation erosion in submarines increases the risk
of enemy detection during wartime. In the case of pumps, cavitation erosion risks
are increased by a smaller inlet pipe diameter and inlet restrictions, combined with
higher liquid viscosity.
Cavitation erosion can damage and destroy critical and valuable equipment, such
as industrial/military/power station equipment and parts, such as pump impellers,
delicately balanced high-speed propellers and turbine blades, causing failures
leading to potential risk of life and injury for workers and others; loss of revenue,
due to equipment downtime and the extra costs of failure analysis, repair and
replacement.
 VII. Summary:
In this document we have shown the basic mechanism leading to the formation of
cavitation bubbles which reduce the flow of water we have also seen the
spectacular collapse of cavitation bubbles leading to noise and damage even to
high strength material systems have to be designed such that cavitation is avoided.
Limit or reduce damage from cavitation erosion:
- Increasing the oil feed pressure
- Modifying the bearing groove, blending edges or contours of grooves to
promote streamline flow
- Reducing running clearance
- Changing to a harder bearing material

VIII. References:
- Some information is taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation
- Illustration images kindly provided by Andy HG