Abstract
An attempt is made to define theoretically the conditions for the appearance of cavitation in liquids subjected to alternating pressure changes. It is found that cavitation is restricted to a definite range of variations of the following parameters: (i) alternating pressure amplitude, (ii) frequency of the pressure wave, (iii) radius of the bubble nucleus, (iv) hydrostatic pressure. Under certain conditions, the change from non-cavitating to cavitating conditions is found to be exceedingly sharp, and in these cases it is shown that the threshold for cavitation can be accurately expressed in very simple terms.