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Published August 1958 | Reprint
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Cavitation and Nuclei

Abstract

Contrary to the general impression, water and other common liquids, when pure, have high tensile strength. Cavitation would be impossible at the highest velocities currently encountered. In practice all liquids appear to cavitate as soon as the pressure tends to drop below the vapor pressure, thus implying that liquids have no tensile strength. This discrepancy is explained by the presence of "weak spots" whose characteristics have as yet only been inferred. This paper presents the results of an experimental investigation of the weak spots present in ordinary water. The results are consistent with the model of the nucleus proposed by Harvey, but are apparently inconsistent with other models currently found in the literature. After summarizing the results of the experimental program, the paper concludes with a series of implications concerning the engineering significance of the nuclei in industrial liquids.

Additional Information

Contributed by the Hydraulic Division and presented at the Annual Meeting, New York, N. Y., December 1-6, 1957, of THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERS. Manuscript received at ASME Headquarters, July 29, 1957. Paper No. 57-A-80. The support for these investigations came from research contracts with the Bureau of Ordnance and with the Mechanics Branch of the Office of Naval Research. The experiments were performed by two research assistants, Nathan Gainsboro and Frank Bonamassa. They contributed much to the development of satisfactory techniques and the analysis of the results, in addition to the tedious work of the tests themselves.

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August 19, 2023
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