Experiment 11: Cavitation Demonstration

Purpose:
Observation of the phenomenon of cavitation in a liquid (by reducing the
liquid to its vapour pressure)
Comparison of theoretical and actual pressure at cavitation conditions
Observation of air-release due to dissolved gasses in a liquid
Demonstration of reducing cavitation by increasing the static pressure in a
liquid
I ntroduction:
Under certain conditions, areas of low pressure can occur locally in a flowing fluid. If
the pressure in such areas falls below the vapour pressure, there will be local boiling
and a cloud of vapour bubbles will form. This phenomenon is known as cavitation
and can cause serious problems, since the flow of liquid can sweep this cloud of
bubbles on into an area of higher pressure where the bubbles will collapse suddenly.
Cavitation can affect the performance of hydraulic machinery such as pumps, turbines
and propellers, and the impact of collapsing bubbles can cause local erosion of metal
surfaces.

Apparatus Description:
This accessory consists of a circular Venturi-shaped test section manufactured from
clear acrylic to allow visualization inside the section. As the flow of water increases
the pressure at the throat falls in accordance with the Bernoulli equation until a limit
is reached corresponding to the vapour pressure of the liquid. At this low pressure
small bubbles of vapour form then collapse violently as the pressure rises again
downstream-a process called cavitation . .
Bourdon gauges indicate the pressure upstream of the contraction, inside the throat
and downstream of the expansion in the test section. Flow control valves upstream
and downstream of the test section allow the flow and pressure to be adjusted
allowing cavitation to be clearly demonstrated.








Figure 1: F1-28 Cavitation Demonstration
Theory:
In accordance with Bernoulli's equation the pressure at the throat of the Venturi-
shaped test section falls as the velocity of the water increases. However, the pressure
can only falls as far as the vapour pressure of the water at which point the water starts
to vaporise - Cavitation occurs. Any further increase in velocity cannot reduce the
pressure below the vapour pressure so the water vaporizes faster stronger Cavitation
occurs and Bernoulli's equation is not obeyed.

Procedure:
1- Open the ball valve (right hand end) fully then close the inlet diaphragm ( left hand
end) fully.
2- Close the flow control valve on F1-10. Switch on the F1-10 then slowly open the
flow control valve on F1-10 until is fully open.
3- Slowly open the inlet diaphragm valve and allow water to flow through the F1-28
until the clear acrylic test section and flexible connecting tube are full of water with
no air entrained.
4- Continue to open the inlet diaphragm valve slowly until fully open to obtain
maximum flow through the system. Note the milky formation within the test section
indicating the presence of cavitation.
5- Close the inlet valve until there is no visible cavitation in the test section typically
0.1 Bar on the inlet pressure gauge. Ensure that the test section remains full of water
6- Take reading for P
1
,P
2
and P
3
from the Borden gauges.
7- Perform a timed volume collection using the hydraulic bench and a suitable
stopwatch.
8- Slowly open the inlet valve by a small amount. Record the new values of P
1
,P
2
and
P
3
and perform another timed volume collection.
9- Repeat this procedure multiple times, opening the inlet valve a little more at each
step
10- On a graph, observe the relationship between flow rate and static pressure( P
2
).




Data & Results:
7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Sample
number
V(l)
T(sec)
Q(m3/s)
P1
P2
P3