Nuclei and Cavitation

Abstract

This paper is a review of existing knowledge on cavitation nuclei. The lack of significant tensions in ordinary liquids is due to so-called weak spots or cavitation nuclei. The various forms which have been proposed for nuclei are gas bubbles, gas in a crevice, gas bubble with organic skin, and a hydrophobic solid. The stability argument leading to the postulation of the Harvey model is reviewed. Aspects of bubble growth are considered and it is shown that bubbles having different initial sizes will undergo vaporous cavitation at different liquid tensions. The three modes of growth, namely vaporous, pseudo, and gaseous are presented and implications concerning the interpretation of data are considered. The question of the source of nuclei and implications concerning scale effects are made. The measurement of nuclei is considered together with experiments on the effect of gas content on incipient cavitation.