Chapter 2

INTRODUCTION
Objective: An introduction of the phenomenon of cavitation, its history, occurrence
and effects.

the local flow velocities. In that case the

phenomenon is called cavitation.
Cavitation is the transition of a fluid into
vapor. That can be any fluid. An example is
the occurrence of cavitation in blood as may
occur in artificial heart valves [32] or cavitation
in pumps and valves in which all types of fluids
are used. In principle the local pressure in a
fluid cannot be lower than the vapor pressure.
If that occurs vapor will be generated from
the fluid and the resulting volume increase will
only be checked when the vapor pressure is
reached. Reality is often more complex, as will
be discussed in chapter 4.

Cavitation is the occurrence of vapor in a

fluid due to local low pressures which are generated by high local flow velocities.

2.1

Cavitation and boiling

A general description of cavitation is the

transition of fluid into vapor due to local reduction of the pressure. There are more ways
to arrive at a transition of water into vapor
and the most common method is cooking of
water. There the transition of water into
vapor is not due to a lower local pressure,
but to an increase of the local temperature.
The term cavitation is generally reserved for
conditions in which the temperature of the
bulk fluid is not changed. This distinction
between cooking and cavitation is not always
sharp, because both temperature and pressure
effects can be present at the same time, e.g.
in the flow around pipes in heat exchangers.
In the case of hydraulics or hydrodynamics
the bulk temperature during the process of
cavitation is generally isothermal and the
occurrence of vapor regions is due to local
pressure reductions which are related with

2.2

Cavitation in water
and other fluids

The pressure at which both vapor and fluid

can be present in a fluid is called the equilibrium vapor pressure or shortly the vapor pressure. The main parameter of the vapor pressure is the temperature. For technical purposes a standard temperature of 15 degrees
Celcius is often used. The vapor pressure of
water in that condition is 1706 Pa. The data
may vary between different sources. The differences are small, but may lead to confusion.
For application in ship hydrodynamics the International Towing Tank Conference adopted
a line with pressures as given in Appendix C.
5

2.3

[Link], Cavitation in Ship Propulsion, January 15, 2010

Adverse effects of cavitation

The main effects of cavitation are adverse effects: noise, erosion, vibrations and disruption
of the flow, which results in loss of lift and increase of drag.
Cavitation is known for its violent behavior.
That is caused by the fact that vaporization
of water and condensation of vapor are very
fast processes, much faster than the dynamics
of a vapor cavity. As a result the growth and
collapse of a cavity is not slowed down by these
processes. The violent behavior of cavitation
has several adverse effects. Because cavitation
is part of the flow, it can move rapidly from
regions of low pressure into regions of a higher
pressure. This leads to a very rapid collapse.
The collapse is so rapid that the local speed of
sound in the fluid is exceeded and shock waves
occur. The consequence is that cavitation is
very noisy and radiates noise over a wide range
of frequencies, especially higher frequencies.
Also the local pressure rises very strongly
at collapse, leading to damage of a nearby
surface. This effect is called erosion. When
larger amounts of vapor are involved the
implosion of cavitation can cause pressure
variations in the fluid, which lead to vibrations
of the cavitating structure. The majority of
the adverse effects of cavitation can be related
with erosion, noise and vibrations.
Cavitation can also alter the flow. This is
e.g. the case on propellers when the cavitation becomes extensive. In that case the flow
over the blades and the lift of the blades is altered by the cavitation and the thrust of the
propeller is strongly reduced. This is the socalled thrust breakdown. In valves cavitation
can also block or choke the flow.
The volume of vapor in cavitation is much
larger than the volume of the water that has
evaporated. In cases of extensive cavitation
this leads to large volume increases and

decreases when cavitation grows and collapses. The volume variations cause pressure
fluctuations in the surrounding fluid, with
structural vibrations as a result.
The properties of cavitation and its implosion can also be used, as will be mentioned
below.

2.4

Examples of effects of
cavitation

The focus of this course is on ship hydrodynamics and ship propellers. But cavitation
occurs in many other situations, mostly with
adverse effects. Cavitation in pumps is related
to that on ship propellers, and the effects are
the same. First the pump may be damaged
at the location of cavitation, but with an
increasing amount of cavitation the efficiency
of the pump decreases. Cavitation can also
occur in pipes and valves, especially when
the temperature is high and the difference
between the mean pressure and the vapor
pressure is small. A rattling noise in the tap of
a shower indicates cavitation and eventually
will cause damage.
Extensive cavitation
can reduce the flow through a valve or pipe
significantly.
Cavitation also occurs in dam overflows
when the overflow accelerates the water
locally. This may lead to large scale damage
of the concrete. Local acceleration of the
water also occurs when gates of sluices are
closed or opened and cavitation may occur,
generally resulting in erosion damage.
Cavitation also occurs in small fluid lines,
such as in the heads of inkjet printers or diesel
fuel injection [46]. The flow velocity in those
lines is limited by cavitation.
Small fluid lines also occur in plants. Water

January 15, 2010, Cavitation

in a tree is predominantly sucked from the

top through capillary vessels. This limits the
heigth of a tree, because when the pressure
at the top is too low, the fluid will cavitate
and the flow will stop due to the occurrence
of vapor. In times of drought vapor is indeed
present in these capillary lines. When such
a plant is watered abruptly it seems that
implosion of the vapor cavities in those vessels
can cause fatal damage to the capillary lines
due to implosion of the cavities.

Cavitation is also used for specifi purposes.

The destructive effect of acoustic pressure
waves focussed on kidney stones is due to
cavitation. Cavitation is a main factor in
the acoustic destruction of kidney stones
(lithotripsy). The imploding cavities destruct
the kidney stone. It is clear that the focussing
is very important to avoid damage to tissue.
This risk of damage due to cavitation is also
a limitation in the application of acoustic
diagnostics [30]. The destructive properties
of cavitation are also used to destruct cancer
cells. This is a way to remove cancer cells in
a non-intrusive way. But when the energy
density becomes too high cavitation in the
tissue will also cause damage. Medical applications use very small nuclei to transport
drugs. These nuclei are made to cavitate in
locations where the drugs have to be applied
[41].Kato proposed cavitation as a means to
kill unwanted biological life from e.g. ballast
water of ships[23],[49].

Cavitation erosion is also used in underwater cleaning. A strong fluid jet which hits a
surface will cause local cavitation and the implosions will remove fouling from the surface.
It is also used in rock cutting and in cutting
steel with high speed jets. Rock cutting in
deep sea is notably more difficult due to the
lack of cavitation in that environment.

2.5

History

Figure 2.1: The Turbinia, used by Charles

Parsons to obtain 30 knots ship speed
Cavitation entered its rle in ship propellers
around 1894, when Charles Parsons treis to
establish a speed record by using a steam turbine for ship propulsion. The power of the
steam turbine was enough for a small boat to
run at 30 knots or more, but the problem was
how to bring this power in the water by a propeller. The ship he used was the Turbinia,
a 30 meter fast boat [6]. Sir Charles Parsons
found that the propellers had an excessive slip,
which means that they rotated much faster
than the pitch of the propeller. He suspected
that there appears to be vacuum behind the
blades. He made that visible by designing
a small cavitation tunnel of about 60 cm in
length with a 5 cm diameter propeller model,
in which tunnel he applied stroboscopic illumination of the propeller by using a rotating
mirror with the same rotation rate as the propeller.
There it became apparent that the was
an empty space on and behind the propeller
blade. The term cavitation was born, although
Burill mentions in his paper that from unnamed sources it seems that [Link] used
the term cavitation first. After many propeller
designs it took nine propellers on three shafts

[Link], Cavitation in Ship Propulsion, January 15, 2010

to obtain a speed of more than 32 knots in

1897. He showed the possibilities of steam
turbine propulsion by running the Turbinia
unannounced on the Spithead Navy Review in
1897, which was held on the occasion of queen
Victorias diamond jubilee. The Turbinia was
faster than any other ship and easily outran
the Navys parol boats.
This was the beginning of a development
of propeller design and cavitation testing. A
larger cavitation tunnel was built at Wallsend
in 1910.

Figure 2.2: The first cavitation tunnel used by

Charles Parsons

Bibliography
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[9] Epstein, P.S., Plesset, M.S. 1950 On the

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[10] , Feindt, E.G., 1956,Untersuchungen

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[3] Arndt, R.E.A., Ellis, C.R., Paul, S. 1995,

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[11] Flynn,
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[12] Foeth, E-J., Kuiper, G. 2004,

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[8] Coutier-Delgosha, O., Devillers, J-P.,

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[16] Harvey, E.N., McElroy, W.D., Whiteley,

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[19] Holl, J.W., Carrol, J.A., 1981, Observations of the Various Types of Limited Cavitation on Axisymmetric Bodies,
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[20] Huang, T.T., 1981, Cavitation Inception
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[23] Takagi,K.,
Kato,H.,Kato,D.,Sugimoto,
A., 2006, Destruction of Plankton by
Two-Dimensional Cavitating Jet, Sixth
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CAV2006, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
[24] Keller, A.P., 1974 Investigations Concerning Scale Effects of the Inception of
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[25] KLEBANOFF, P.S., SCHUBAUER,

G.B., TIDSTROM,K.D., 1955, Measurements of the Effect of Two-dimensional
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[26] Knapp, R.T., Hollander, A., 1948, Laboratory Investigations of the Mechanism
of Cavitation, Trans. A.S.M.E., Vol.70,
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[27] Knapp, R.T., Daily, J.W., Hammitt,
F.G., 1970, C avitation, New York :
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[28] Knapp, R.T., Hollander, A., 1948,
Laboratory Investigations of the Mechanism of Cavitation, Trans. A.S.M.E., Vol
70, pp419-435.
[29] Korkut, E., Atlar, M., 2000, On the Importance of Effect of Turbulence in Cavitation Inception Tests of Marine Propellers, Proceedings of Royal Society of
London A: Mathematical, Physical and
Engineering Sciences, Vol.458 , pp.29-48.
[30] Kreider, W., Crum, L., Bailey,M., Matula, T.,Khoklova, V., Sapozhnikov,O.,
2006, Acoustic Cavitation and Medical
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[31] Kumar, S., Brennen, C.E., 1996, A Study
of Pressure Pulses generated by Travelling
Bubble Cavitation, Journal of Fluid Mechanics Vol 255 pp541.
[32] Hwansung Lee, Tomonori Tsukiya,
Akihiko
Homma,
Tadayuki
Kamimura,Eisuke Tatsumi, Yoshiyuki
Taenaka, Hisateru Takano, Observation
of Cavitation in a Mechanical Heart
Valve, Fifth International Symposium on
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[33] Kuiper, G., 1978, Scale Effects on Propeller Cavitation, 12th Symposium on
Naval Hydrodynamics, Washington D.C.,
USA.
[34] Kuiper, G. 1981, Cavitation Inception on
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[35] Kuiper, G. 2008, Fundamentals of Ship
Resistance and Propulsion, Course Lectures Technical University Delft.
[36] Landa, E.R., Nimmo, J.R.,2003 The Life
and Scientific Contributions of Lyman J.
Briggs, Journal of the Soil Science Society of America, Vol 67 no 3, pp 681-693.
[Link]

[37] Ligtelijn, J.T., van der Kooij, J., Kuiper,

G., van Gent,W., 1992, Research on
Propeller-Hull Interaction in the Depressurized Towing Tank, Hydrodynamics,
Computations,Model Tests and Reality
(Marin ), Elseviers Science Publishers.
[38] Morch E.M., 2000, Paper on Cav2003.
[39] Moerch, K.A. 2009, C avitation Nuclei:
Experiment and Theory,Journal of Hydrodynamics Vol21 p176.
[40] Neppiras, E.A., Noltink, B.E., 1951, Cavitation produced by Ultrasonics, Proc.
Phys. Soc. London, pp 1032-1038.
[41] Ohl, C-D., Arora, M. ,Roy, I., Delius.
M., Wolfrum, B.,2003, Drug Delivery Following Shock Wave Induced Cavitation ,
Fifth International Symposium on Cavitation (cav2003),Osaka, Japan.
[42] Plesset, M.S., 1949, The Dynamics of
Cavitation Bubbles, ASME Journal of
Appl. Mech. 1949, pp 277-232.
[43] Schiebe, F.R., 1972, Measurement of the
Cavitation Susceptibility of Water using

Standard Bodies, St. Anthony Fall Hydraulic Lab, Univ. of Minnesota, report
118.
[44] Schlichting, H., 1968, Boundary Layer
Theory, McGraw-Hill, 6th edition.
[45] Terwisga, T.J.C., Fitzsimmons, P.A.,
Li,Z., Foeth, E-J. Cavitation Erosion-A
review of Physical Mechanisms and Erosion Risk Models, 7th International Symposium on Cavitation, CAV2009, Ann
Arbor, Michigan, U.S.A.
[46] Jin Wang, 2009, Nozzle-geometrydependent breakup of diesel jets by
ultrafast x-ray imaging: implication of
in-nozzle cavitation, Seventh Int. Symp.
on Cavitation: CAV2009, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, U.S.A.
[47] Watanabe, S., Furukawa, A., Yoshida, Y.,
Tsujimoto, Y., 2009, Analytical investigations of thermodynamic effect on cavitation characteristics of sheet and tip leakage vortex cavitation, Seventh Int. Symp.
on Cavitation: CAV2009, Ann Arbor,
Michigan, USA.
[48] Williams,M., Kawakami, E., Amromin,
E., Arndt,R. Effects of Surface Characteristics on Hydrofoil Cavitation, Seventh
Int. Symp. on Cavitation: CAV2009, Ann
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[49] Yoshimura,T., Kubota, S., Seo, T.,
Sato,K., 2009, Development of Ballast Water Treatment Technology by
Mechanochemical
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Int. Symp. on Cavitation: CAV2009,
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[50] Yount, D.E. 1979, S kins of Varying Permeability: A Stabilization Mechanism
For Gas Cavitation Nuclei,A. ACCOUST.
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68

[Link], Cavitation in Ship Propulsion, January 15, 2010

Appendix A
Air Content of Water
The amount of air dissolved in water can
be expressed in many ways. The most common
ways in literature are

with saturated water therefore contain 36 percent oxygen. But nuclei which are generated
from the air above the water contain 21 percent oxygen. Since the ratio between oxygen
and nitrogen is not fixed, it is difficult to relate measurements of dissolved oxygen (by osmose) to measurements of dissolved air (from
e.g a van Slijke apparatus).

the gas fraction in weight ratio w

the gas fraction in volume ratio v
the molecule ratio

The amount of oxygen dissolved in water at

atmospheric pressure at 15 degrees Celcius is
approximately 10 10 6kg/kg. For nitrogen
this value is about 15 10 6, so the solubility
of air in water is the sum of both: 25 10 6.
Here the dissolved gas contents are expressed
as a weigth ratio w .Air is very light relative
to water and the weight ratio is very small.
This ratio is therefore often expressed as parts
per million (in weight), which is 106 w .

the saturation rate

the partial pressure of air

A.1

Solubility

Air is a mixture of 21 percent oxygen, 78 percent nitrogen and one percent of many other
gases, which are often treated as nitrogen. The
specific mass of gases involved in air are:
Oxygen (O2 )
Nitrogen (N2 )
Air

1.429
1.2506
1.292

kg/m3
kg/m3
kg/m3

A.2

The maximum amount of gas that can be

dissolved in water, the solubility), depends on
pressure and temperature. It decreases with
increasing temperature and increases with increasing pressure. The solubility of oxygen in
water is higher than the solubility of nitrogen.
Air dissolved in water contains approximately
36 percent oxygen compared to 21 percent in
[Link] remaining amount can be considered
as Nitrogen. Nuclei which are in equilibrium

The Gas Fraction in

Volume Ratio

The volume of gas dissolved per cubic meter

of water depends on temperature and pressure. Therefore this volume ratio is expressed
in standard conditions of 0 degrees Celcius and
1013 mbar (atmospheric conditions). The dependency of the volume of water on temperature and pressure is neglected. The volume of
the dissolved air is then described by the law
of Boyle-Gay-Lussac:
69

70

[Link], Cavitation in Ship Propulsion, January 15, 2010

p V ol
= constant
273 + T

(A.1)

The volume fraction at (p,T) can be related

to the volume fraction in standard conditions:
v = v (p, T )

273p
(273 + T )1013

(A.2)

The gas fraction in volume ratio is dimensionless (m3 /m3 ). Be careful because sometimes this is violated by using cm3 /l (1000v )
or parts per million (ppm) which is 106 v .
v is found from w by:
v =

water
w
air

(A.3)

in which is the specific mass in kg/m3 . At

15 deg. Celcius and 1013 mbar pressure the
specific mass of water w = 1000kg/m3 and
the specific mass of air is 1.223kg/m3 , so for
air v = 813w .

A.3

The Gas Fraction in

Molecule ratio

The dissolved amount of gas can also be expressed as the ratio in moles(Mol/Mol). Molar masses may be calculated from the atomic
weight in combination with the molar mass
constant (1 g/mol) so that the molar mass of a
gas or fluid in grams is the same as the atomic
weight.
The molar ratio m is easily found from the
weight ratio by

w = m

M( water)
M( gas)

(A.4)

in which M is the molar weight, which is 18

for water, 16 for oxygen(O2 ) and 28 for Nitrogen (N2 ). For air a virtual molar weigth can

be defined using the ratio of oxygen and nitrogen of 21/79 this virtual molar weight of air is
about 29.

A.4

The saturation rate

The saturation rate is the amount of gas in solution as a fraction of the maximum amount
that can go in solution in the same conditions.
Since the saturation rate is dimensionless. It is
independent of the way in which the dissolved
gas or the solubility is expressed. The saturation rate is important because it determines if
and in which direction diffusion will occur at
a free surface. The saturation rate varies with
temperature and pressure, mainly because the
solubility of gas changes with these parameters.

A.5

The partial pressure

Sometimes the amount of dissolved gas is expressed as the partial pressure of the gas (mbar
or even in mm HG). This is based on Henrys
law, which states that the amount of gas dissolved in a fluid is proportional to the partial
pressure of that gas. In a van Slijke apparatus a specific volume of water is taken and
subjected to repeated spraying in near vacuum conditions (a low pressure decreases the
solubility). This will result in collecting the
dissolved in a chamber of specific size. By
measuring the pressure in that chamber the
amount of dissolved gas is found. Note that
this pressure is not directly the partial pressure. A calibration factor is required which
depends on the apparatus.

Appendix B
Standard Cavitators
A standard cavitator is a reference body
which can be used to compare and calibrate
cavitation observations and measurements.
Its geometry has to be reproduced accurately
and therefore an axisymmetric headform has
been used as a standard cavitatior.
Such an axisymmetric body has been investigated in the context of the ITTC (International Towing Tank Conference).This is
a worldwide conference consisting of towing
tanks (and cavitation tunnels) which have the
goal of predicting the hydrodynamic behavior
of ships. To do that model tests and calculations are used. They meet every three years
to discuss the state of the art and to define
common problem areas which have to be reviewed by committees. The ITTC headform
has a flat nose and an elliptical contour [22].
Its characteristics are given in Fig B.1.
This headform has been used to compare
cavitation inception conditions and cavitation
patterns in a range of test facilities. The
results showed a wide range of inception
conditions and also a diversity of cavitation
patterns in virtually the same condition,
as illustrated in Fig B.3. This comparison
lead to the investigation of viscous effects on
cavitation and cavitation inception.

Figure B.1: Contour and Pressure Distribution on the ITTC Headform [31]

headform was used to compare inception

measurements in various cavitation tunnels.
However, it was realized later on that the
boundary layer flow on both the ITTC and
on the hemisperical headform was not as
simple as the geometry suggested. In most
cases the Reynolds numbers in the investigations was such that the boundary layer
over the headform remained laminar and the
pressure distribution was such that a laminar
separation bubble occurred, in the position
indicated in Fig. B.1. This caused viscous
effects on cavitation inception and made the
headform less suitable as a standard body.
Note that the location of laminar separation is
independent of the Reynolds number. When
the Reynolds number becomes high transition
to turbulence occurs upstream of the sep-

The simplest conceivable body to investigate cavitation is the hemispherical headform.

This is an axisymmetric body with a hemispere as the leading contour. Its minimum
pressure coefficient is -0.74. The hemisperical
71

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[Link], Cavitation in Ship Propulsion, January 15, 2010

Figure B.2: Contour and Pressure Distribution of the Schiebe body [31]
aration location and separation will disappear.
To avoid laminar separation another headform was developed by Schiebe ([43]) and
this headform bears his name ever since.
The contour and pressure distribution on
the Schiebe headform are given in Fig. B.2.
This headform has no laminar separation and
transition to a turbulent boundary layer will
occur at a location which depends on the
Reynolds number.
Many other headform shapes have been
investigated with different minimum pressure coefficients and pressure recovery
gradients.(e.g.[20])

January 15, 2010, Standard Cavitators73

Figure B.3: Comparative measurements of cavitation inception on the ITTC headform

source:ITTC

74

[Link], Cavitation on Ship Propellers, January 15, 2010

Appendix C
Tables
T
pv
Celcius N/m2
0
608.012
2
706.078
4
813.951
6
932
8
1069
10
1226
12
1402
14
1598
15
1706
16
1814
18
2059
20
2334
22
2638
24
2981
26
3364
28
3785
30
4236
32
4756
34
5315
36
5943
38
6619
40
7375
Table C.1: Vapor pressure of Water.

75

76

[Link], Cavitation on Ship Propellers, January 15, 2010

Temp.
deg. C.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

kinem. visc.
fresh water
m2 /sec 106
1.78667
1.72701
1.67040
1.61665
1.56557
1.51698
1.47070
1.42667
1.38471
1.34463
1.30641
1.26988
1.23495
1.20159
1.16964
1.13902
1.10966
1.08155
1.05456
1.02865
1.00374
0.97984
0.95682
0.93471
0.91340
0.89292
0.87313
0.85409
0.83572
0.81798
0.80091

kinem. visc.
salt water
m2 /sec 106
1.82844
1.76915
1.71306
1.65988
1.60940
1.56142
1.51584
1.47242
1.43102
1.39152
1.35383
1.31773
1.28324
1.25028
1.21862
1.18831
1.15916
1.13125
1.10438
1.07854
1.05372
1.02981
1.00678
0.98457
0.96315
0.94252
0.92255
0.90331
0.88470
0.86671
0.84931

Table C.2: Kinematic viscosities adopted by

the ITTC in 1963

January 15, 2010, Tables 77

Rn
1 105
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 106
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
1 107
2
4
6
8
1 108
2
4
6
8
1 109
2
4
6
8
1 1010

Cf 103
8.333
6.882
6.203
5.780
5.482
5.254
5.073
4.923
4.797
4.688
4.054
3.741
3.541
3.397
3.285
3.195
3.120
3.056
3.000
2.669
2.390
2.246
2.162
2.083
1.889
1.721
1.632
1.574
1.531
1.407
1.298
1.240
1.201
1.17x

Table C.3: Friction coefficients according to

the ITTC57extrapolator.

78

[Link], Cavitation on Ship Propellers, January 15, 2010

Temp.
deg. C.
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30

density
fresh water
kg/m3
999.8
999.8
999.9
999.9
999.9
999.9
999.9
999.8
999.8
999.7
999.6
999.5
999.4
999.3
999.1
999.0
998.9
998.7
998.5
998.3
998.1
997.9
997.7
997.4
997.2
996.9
996.7
996.4
996.2
995.9
995.6

density
salt water
kg/m3
1028.0
1027.9
1027.8
1027.8
1027.7
1027.6
1027.4
1027.3
1027.1
1027.0
1026.9
1026.7
1026.6
1026.3
1026.1
1025.9
1025.7
1025.4
1025.2
1025.0
1024.7
1024.4
1024.1
1023.8
1023.5
1023.2
1022.9
1022.6
1022.3
1022.0
1021.7

Table C.4: Densities as adopted by the ITTC

in 1963.

Appendix D
Nomenclature
kg
m3

density of water
Cg
gas concentration
Dg
diffusion coefficient
D
diameter
Fd
drag
g
acceleration due to gravity
N d number density of nuclei
pg
gas pressure
f racN m2
pv
equilibrium vapor pressure
R
radius

dynamic viscosity of water

kinematic viscosity of water

s
surface tension

kg/m
m2 /sec
m
N
m
sec2

See TableC.4
see Appendix A
representative value 2 109

Taken as 9.81

m 4
f racN m2

m
kg
msec
m2
sec

Nm

79

( = )See Table C.2

for water 0.075