Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas “ESPE”

Sistemas Energéticos

Nombre: Steven Palacios

NRC: 2095

Fecha: 17/06/2019

Tema: Cavitación

1) Description of the phenomenon

It is a hydrodynamic effect that occurs when water or any other fluid passes at high speed
through a sharp edge, producing a decompression of the fluid. It may happen that the vapor
pressure of the liquid is reached in such a way that the molecules that compose it change
immediately to a vapor state, forming bubbles or, more correctly, cavities. The formed
bubbles travel to areas of higher pressure and implode (the vapor returns to the liquid state
suddenly, "crushing" the bubbles abruptly) producing a gas trail and a metal surge of the
surface in which this phenomenon originates. (Mott, 2006)

Figure 1. Stages of cavitation. Source: (Marchegiani, 2006)

As shown in Figure 1, the implosion causes pressure waves that travel in the liquid
traveling at speeds close to the sound, ie regardless of the fluid speed acquired will be close
to the sound. (Marchegiani, 2006)

These may dissipate in the liquid stream or may collide with a surface. If the area where the
pressure waves collide is the same, the material tends to weaken metallurgically and an
erosion begins that, in addition to damaging the surface, causes it to become an area of
greater pressure loss and therefore of greater focus of formation of steam bubbles. If the
vapor bubbles are near or in contact with a solid wall when they implode, the forces exerted
by the liquid by crushing the cavity left by the vapor give rise to very high localized
pressures, causing pitting on the solid surface. Note that depending on the material used,
oxidation of the material can occur, which would structurally weaken the material. (White,
2004)

2) Efectos de la cavitación

When talking about cavitation, valves and other accessories can experience the same
harmful effects as a pump. If a valve has its intake partially closed, it will probably cavitate
and deteriorate in the same way that an impeller and the wear plate of a pump whose
suction would be clogged would. In the suction cavitation, the damage ranges from a few
pitches located in the eye of the impeller to a total rupture of the impeller and destruction of
the wear plate. In most cases, the deterioration is reduced to bites in the impeller and in the
wear plate. Sometimes, the flaw is described as if it were a Swiss cheese or the impeller
was machine-gunned. In general, the damage caused by a suction cavitation is limited to
these two parts. On the other hand, the cavitation in the tajamar of the casing (or of
impulsion) is, by far, much more destructive than the previous one. In this case,
characteristic stings appear at the end of the blades and their front part. If the cavitation is
sufficiently severe, the attack advances throughout the blade. (Marchegiani, 2006)

As for the single scroll casings, due to the non-compensation of the high pressure, the axis
increases its deflection as the pumping height is higher. Gorman - Rupp designs the axes of
its pumps to admit this deflection in the operating range of the operating curve. However, if
the pumping height is high enough so that the working point is located to the left of the
characteristic curve, then the impulse cavitation will occur which will reduce the useful life
of the impeller. The deflection of the shaft could generate fatigue and its own breakage; the
bearings could deteriorate due to overexertion and, in addition, the mechanical seal could
be damaged. (Pérez, 2016)

3) Cavitation by flow

a. Cavitation in pipes

Whenever the pipeline is above the gradient line (piezometric line) there is negative pressure.
Figure 2 shows a narrowing in the pipe. There is an increase in speed and therefore there
must be a decrease in pressure. If the narrowing is very large, as shown in the figure, the
gradient line is below the pipeline and negative pressure is produced. Figure 2 shows a pipe
joining two ponds and for some reason, which could be of topographic type, has a high stretch
that is on the gradient line, this hydraulic system is called a siphon. H is the load. (Pérez,
2016)

The gradient line is represented approximately by the straight line joining the free surfaces
of the ponds (actually the gradient line is not straight, as the pipeline is not). The entire
stretch that is on the gradient line has negative pressure. At the points of intersection
between the gradient line and the pipe the pressure is zero. It should be kept in mind that
we are talking about relative pressures. Therefore "zero pressure" means "atmospheric
pressure" and "negative pressure" means "less than atmospheric pressure". (Mott, 2006)

Figure 2. Cavitation in a pipe. Source: (Mott, 2006)

In the section of pipe in which the pressure is less than atmospheric is released to the air
contained in the water and if the speed is not large enough the air is retained in the upper
part of the pipe preventing the normal circulation of water. If the pressure decreases a lot,
water vapor appears and the problem worsens. Therefore a siphon should be designed so
that the pressure is always above that corresponding to the formation of steam at the water
temperature. (Mott, 2006)

b. Cavitation in joints

Due to the high operating pressure, it is to be expected that the sealing rings and pump
bearings will fail prematurely. Under extreme conditions, the axis of the impeller may
break. Discharge cavitation occurs when the pump discharge is very high. This normally
occurs in a pump that is running at less than 10% of its optimum efficiency point. The high
discharge pressure causes most of the fluid to circulate inside the pump instead of leaving
through the discharge area, this phenomenon is known as "slippage". As the fluid flows
around the impeller, it must pass at a very high velocity through a small opening between
the impeller and the chopper of the pump. This speed causes the vacuum in the tajamar (a
phenomenon similar to that which occurs in a venturi), which causes the liquid to transform
into vapor. A pump operating under these conditions shows premature wear of the impeller,
cutter and vanes. (Marchegiani, 2006)

c. Cavitation in valves

The control valves are exposed to all kinds of influences in control processes. This forces
the existence of a great variety of series and designs depending on the specific problem to
be solved in each particular application. So, if we add to this the variation that the physical
and chemical parameters of the fluid can experience, or all those parameters that can affect
the process by itself, it forces us to use a special calculation technique when the choice is
made. control valve. (Pérez, 2016)
The large drops of differential pressure in a control valve are, in general, a pre-conditioner
at high speeds of fluid passage through the valve, which consequently means a high risk of
erosion. Solid particles in the fluid can contribute to wear, as well as steam bubbles
imploding on the valve, so the extent of erosion will depend on how the fluid is routed
through the valve and the construction materials used. Without further ado, we will now
describe a new control valve design, which has a very satisfactory behavior with the
phenomenon of cavitation. (Pérez, 2016)

The phenomenon of cavitation appears when a liquid that flows through a pipeline is
throttled through a control valve as seen in figure 3, it increases its speed considerably
(principle of conservation of mass) . This increase in speed leads to a loss of pressure
(principle of conservation of energy). If this pressure loss falls below the saturation
pressure of the fluid, part of it produces vapor bubbles that seek areas of higher pressure
where they suddenly collapse. These zones are usually the control valve itself and
immediately after it, since the pressure is recovered by decreasing the speed to its initial
value as in Figure 3. (Bort, 2002)

Figure 3. Cavitation process of a valve. Source: (Bort, 2002)

In this process, the vapor bubbles form a static cavitation zone which varies in length as a function
of the differential pressure. Implosions of vapor bubbles produce what are known as micro-jets
(small portions of fluid propelled at high speed and very short life, maximum several milliseconds),
when they hit a solid material, for example the body of a valve, cause damage and wear. They can
even eventually "eat" the body of the valve, especially in control valves that redirect the fluid.
However, even if an ingeniously designed control valve was developed, it would not be possible
for procedural reasons to ensure that it would be free of cavitation for all its working conditions
(eg Xf <Z). (Bort, 2002)

4) Cavitation by waves

Is given by ultrasonic effect or steady state of the liquid, perhaps the most important
physical effect is called cavitation. This phenomenon occurs in liquids and its cause is not
only ultrasound. The idea is that the wave, if it has large amplitudes, causes pressure
variations. Every liquid has a point called vapor tension; when we place ourselves below
said pressure value, the liquid goes into gaseous state, which generates steam pockets
(cavities). The bubbles travel to a region of higher pressure and collide with each other.
When this happens, the pressure increases very much, reaching even 800 MPa and also the
temperature (5000ºC) as seen in figure 4. As we can imagine, this is something extremely
dangerous since it can destroy retaining surfaces, pipes and other . Wave cavitation depends
on many aspects:

Frequency. At higher frequencies, the time given to the bubble to grow and affect the
system is small, so the effect of cavitation is less.

Viscosity. The more viscous a liquid is, the lower the effect of cavitation.

Temperature. The higher the temperature, the cavitation takes place for lower acoustic
intensities.

External pressure The increase of this factor causes a greater violence in the collision of
the bubbles.

Intensity. In general, the higher the ultrasonic intensity, the greater the effect of this
phenomenon.

This effect is of vital importance in submarines and hydraulic machines, where it can cause
serious damage. However, cavitation also has certain applications of interest, currently
under development, such as the so-called "Super-Cavitation", which consists in the
projectiles launched by a submarine traveling inside an air bubble, achieving greater speed.

(White, 2004)

Figure 4. Cavitation by waves, example of acoustic cavitation. Source: (Bort, 2002)

Bibliography
Bort, F. (2002). Cavitación en válvulas de Control. Valencia: Schubert & Salzer Iberica, S.L.
Marchegiani, R. (2006). Máquinas Hidraúlicas: Cavitación. Neuquén: Universidad Nacional de
COMAHUE.

Mott, R. (2006). Mecánica de Fluidos. México: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Pérez, S. (2016). Mecánica de Fluidos y Máquinas Hidraúlicas. Obtenido de Tema 07. Cavitación y
golpe de airete: https://ocw.unican.es/pluginfile.php/1307/course/section/1605/T07.pdf

White, F. (2004). Mecánica de Fluidos. Madrid: McGraw Hill.