Cavitation Erosion Studies With Venturi and Rotating Disk in Water

Abstract

A study of the cavitation erosion behind blunt bodies with varying hydrodynamic factors of flow, such as, the test time, length of cavity, velocity, and pressure; the geometrical parameters of the system, namely, the size and shape of the cavitating body, its aspect-ratio, and its surface roughness; and the mechanical properties of the materials, namely, the density, yield strength, tensile strength, engineering strain energy, hardness, ultimate resilience, percent elongation, percent reduction in area and elastic modulus are reported. The study of the volume eroded along with the hydrodynamic factors of the flow and the geometrical parameters of the system in general indicated that a critical zone of cavitation conditions exists in which the erosion caused is very severe. This critical zone is described by a range of values of V/l (α Strouhal frequency, f for detachment of cavities). Among the correlations studied for the inverse of rate of volume eroded as a function of individual and twin mechanical properties, the product of ultimate resilience and Brinell hardness showed the best correlation.