Proyecto

CRACOW UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

Institute of Thermal and Process Engineering
ERASMUS PROGRAMME
MASTER OF SCIENCE
Vctor Gimnez Bravo
ACCOUSTIC EFFECTS OF CAVITATION AND DEGRADATION OF

POLYMERS
Supervisor:
PhD Eng. Konrad Nering
Cracow, acad.. year: 2014/2015
iv
A BSTRACT
The following project explores the possibility of detecting cavitation in water in

certain installations using a simple microphone. This task is generally targeted to a
hydrophone. Hydrophones are expensive devices that require specific installation
settings. Therefore, being able to identify and measure this phenomenon through a
commercial microphone, which does not constitute a big investment and is easy to
install, can make a great difference.
As a second objective, the project will show the cavitation spectrum and will
also study the influence of degradation of a polymer solution in this spectrum. This
polymer will be PEO (polyethylene oxide) diluted in water. The aim of this research is
to detect degradation in future solutions and quantify the amount of this degradation
and the duration of it, again just by a simple noise test.
vi
vii
C ONTENTS
Abstract ............................................................................................................................ v
List of figures................................................................................................................... ix
List of tables .................................................................................................................... xi
Nomenclature ................................................................................................................. xii
1.
Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1
2.
Theoretical background............................................................................................. 2
2.1
Cavitation ........................................................................................................... 2
2.2
Types of cavitation ............................................................................................. 4
2.2.1.
2.3
Cavitation damage ............................................................................................. 6
2.4
Fluids involved. .................................................................................................. 7
2.4.1.
Newtonian fluids ......................................................................................... 7
2.4.2.
Non-Newtonian fluids ................................................................................. 7
2.5
3.
4.
5.
Cavitation through a Venturi tube ............................................................. 5
Noise ................................................................................................................... 9
2.5.1.
The Rayleigh-Plesset equation ................................................................... 9
2.5.2.
Sound pressure .......................................................................................... 13
2.5.3.
Measuring devices ..................................................................................... 17
Setup and equipment .............................................................................................. 19

3.1
Installation ....................................................................................................... 19
3.2
Microphone ....................................................................................................... 21
3.3
Software............................................................................................................ 21
Procedure and measurements................................................................................. 23

4.1
First test: Clean water under cavitation ......................................................... 23
4.2
Second test: Aqueous solution of peo under cavitation ................................... 30
Results ..................................................................................................................... 33
5.1
Results for water .............................................................................................. 33
5.2
Results for aqueous solution of Peo ................................................................. 36
viii
5.2.1
50 ppm of Peo ............................................................................................ 37
5.2.2
100 ppm of Peo .......................................................................................... 39
6.
Analysis and Conclusions........................................................................................ 41
7.
Appendix I: Technical specifications ....................................................................... 44
8.
7.1
Microphone ....................................................................................................... 44
7.2
Pump ................................................................................................................ 45
Bibliography ............................................................................................................ 49
ix
L IST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.- Cavitation through a Venturi tube ................................................................. 2
Figure 2.- Process of formation and collapse ................................................................... 3
Figure 3. - Micro jet focusing the energy into the surface of the solid ............................ 3
Figure 4.- Cavitating hydrofoil ........................................................................................ 4
Figure 5. - Flow through a Venturi tube.......................................................................... 5
Figure 6. - Two flat plates separated by a layer of fluid ................................................. 7
Figure 7. - Different fluids under shear stress and their behavior ................................. 8
Figure 8. - Results of equation 2 for water at 300K ..................................................... 10
Figure 9. - Individual bubble collapsing ........................................................................ 11
Figure 10. - Individual bubble noise spectrum .............................................................. 12
Figure 11. - Axial flow pump noise spectrum ................................................................ 13
Figure 12. - Sound pressure produced by an individual bubble .................................... 15
Figure 13. - Acoustic spectrum for cavitation in water ................................................. 16
Figure 14. - Section of a usual ceramic transducer ....................................................... 18
Figure 15. Setup sketch............................................................................................... 19
Figure 16. Manometers ............................................................................................... 20
Figure 17. - Isolation of the Venturi tube ...................................................................... 20
Figure 18. - Behringer C-1U .......................................................................................... 21
Figure 19. - Cool Edit Pro screenshot ............................................................................ 22
Figure 20. - First setup for test one ............................................................................... 24
Figure 21. - Full spectrum measured. Frequency of 27 Hz/769 rpm ............................ 26
Figure 22. - Second setup for test one ............................................................................ 26
Figure 23. - Spectrum of noise for 769 rpm ................................................................... 28
Figure 24. - Denoising Process for 769 rpm ................................................................... 28
Figure 25. - Noise reduction menu................................................................................. 29
Figure 26. - Noise spectrum of water for 711 rpm ......................................................... 34
Figure 27. - Noise spectrums of 711 rpm and 1397 rpm ............................................... 35
Figure 28. - Noise full spectra ........................................................................................ 35
Figure 29. - Noise spectra seen from above ................................................................... 36
Figure 30. - comparison between the first minutes of experiment and the last ones for
50 ppm ............................................................................................................................ 37
Figure 31. - Evolution of spectra during the experiment for 50 ppm............................ 38
Figure 32. - full spectra for 50 ppm of solution ............................................................. 38
Figure 33. - comparison between the first minutes of experiment and the last ones for
100 ppm .......................................................................................................................... 39
Figure 34. - Full spectra for 100 ppm of solution .......................................................... 40
Figure 35. - Evolution of noise produced during degradation of polymer ..................... 42
Figure 36. - Comparison of clean water vs solution ...................................................... 42
Figure 37. - Strong degradation zone............................................................................. 43
x
Figure 38. -Frequency response and polar pattern of the microphone ......................... 44
Figure 39. - Technical specifications of the microphone................................................ 45
Figure 40. - SKA3 Self-Priming Pump........................................................................... 45
Figure 41. - Head/flow curve of the pump...................................................................... 47
Figure 42. - Power/flow curve of the pump .................................................................... 47
Figure 43. - Efficiency/flow curve of the pump .............................................................. 48
Figure 44. - NPSHr/flow of the pump ............................................................................ 48
xi
L IST OF TABLES
Table 1. - Variables and their effect on cavitation .......................................................... 6
Table 2. - Progress of all parameters for the first setup................................................ 25
Table 3. - Progress of all parameters for the first setup................................................ 27
Table 4. -First solution, no cavitation. Control parameters .......................................... 31
Table 5. -First solution, cavitation. Control parameters ............................................... 31
Table 6. -Second solution, no cavitation. Control parameters ...................................... 31
Table 7. -Second solution, cavitation. Control parameters ........................................... 32
Table 8. - Cavitation number evolution for water ......................................................... 33
Table 9. - Cavitation number evolution for 50 ppm of Solution .................................... 37
Table 10. - Cavitation number evolution for 100 ppm of Solution ................................ 39
Table 11. - Technical specifications of the pump ........................................................... 46
xii
N OMENCLATURE
Pressure coefficient
Events per second
Acoustic energy
Non-dimensional impulse
External pressure
Bubble pressure
Reference pressure
Sound pressure
Vapor pressure
Maximum radius
Critical radius
Kinematic viscosity of a liquid
Resonance frequency
Dynamic viscosity
Frequency
Area
Efficiency
Force
Impulse
Nuclei concentration
Radius
Surface tension
Volume
velocity
Density
Cavitation number
1 Introduction
1. I NTRODUCTION
Cavitation is one of the most common problems in hydraulic installations. Its
effects and behavior are important when designing machines such as pumps and
turbines, and hydraulic circuits. If it is not controlled properly it can produce
substantial damage.
Thus, being able to measure and quantify the amount of cavitation of a certain
installation will allow preventing the appearance of this phenomenon, or at least to
control it and keep it under safe values, where the damage can be negligible.
One of the main characteristics of cavitation is that it produces noise. In many
practical circumstances, the noise is important not only because of the vibration
caused, since it can also advertise the presence of cavitation and, therefore, the
likelihood of damage. Studying this noise and trying to extrapolate results in order to
be able to detect cavitation in future situations can be of great interest. As the project
scope, noise under cavitation is going to be measured and then this noise will be
processed and studied to get some conclusions about the spectrum of frequencies
generated.
The structure followed by the project will be, first of all, to get a brief summary
of all topics treated in it. Then afterwards, a close look will be taken at the installation
under consideration. Subsequently, several measurements of cavitation noise will be
made and they will be analyzed. Finally, the feasibility of the proposition is going to be
checked.
2 Theoretical background
2. T HEORETICAL BACKGROUN D
2.1
C AVITATION
The formation of a vapor phase from a liquid phase of a fluid can be achieved
by different ways. The most well-known method is through heat addiction, but it is not
the only one. When this vapor phase is produced by a pressure drop the process is
called cavitation. Its name comes from the word cavity, which is precisely the effect
that causes in surfaces of solid boundaries. These solid boundaries are commonly pipes
(and its fittings), hydrofoils, pumps and propellers. In fact, this phenomenon was first
seen on the surface of a propeller of a British warship in 1893. Nonetheless it was
explained by Lord Rayleigh a few years later.
Cavitation damage is produced by the vapor bubbles. The behavior of these
bubbles and its formation are quite complex, but nowadays they are well understood,
as cavitation has been fully researched and there is a wealth of data on causes and
effects.
The best way to study cavitation is through a glass Venturi tube, where the
cavitating flow1 can be seen and heard as water flows. Most of the experimental data
included in this work will be measured on a workbench that has its own glass Venturi
tube, as will be outlined below. The following picture describes the pressure drop and
the two-phased region produced by the phenomenon.
F IGURE 1.- C AVITATION
THROUGH A
V ENTURI
TUBE
This experiment was first exhibited by Osborne Reynolds in 1894. Increasing

velocity produces a pressure drop that eventually makes the water boil, and the first
1
The two-phased flow composed of both liquid and vapor.
small bubbles are formed. These bubbles grow for a while and then collapse. This
cyclic process can occur thousands of times over a very short distance of travel. It is
important to realize that this collapse or implosion is completely different from a burst
of a vapor bubble that can occur on a heating pot. The implosion of a cavitation bubble
releases a large amount of energy, and this is the main difference between these two
ways of boiling water, and why cavitation is so dangerous. This energy can also be
directed in a single direction because of the so called micro jet2.
F IGURE 2.- P ROCESS
OF FORMATION AND COLLAPSE
As it can be seen in figure 3, the micro jet focuses all the energy against the
surface of the solid. A large number of micro jets are necessary before any significant
damage results.
F IGURE 3. - M ICRO
JET FOCUSING THE ENERGY INTO THE SURFACE OF THE S OLID
Now there is a basis of the process studied. These implosions and shock waves
produced will generate noise, and this noise will be the sign of the appearance of
cavitation. This sound will be measured in order to be able to detect cavitation and its
harmful effects on hydraulic machines. After measuring and creating spectrums of it,
some common patterns should appear.
The re-entrant micro jet forms at the bottom of the bubble, and directs the high amount of
energy per unit of volume concentrated during the formation and grow of the bubble.
2
Before going into the subject in depth, it will be necessary to study a few topics.
The first subject to be analyzed is cavitation types, and a brief look will be taken at the
main kinds of cavitation, but focusing on the ones more interesting for the research.
2.2
T YPES
OF CAVITATION
The kinds of cavitation are usually classified depending on the hydraulic

machine that suffers from it.
Hydrofoils with a sharp leading edge usually suffer from cavitation, and it
begins at this edge. Cavitation will grow as the angle of attack is increased or the
ambient pressure is reduced. If it grows and extends beyond the trailing edge of the
hydrofoil, the flow is called super-cavitating. Cavitation in hydrofoils is a matter of
study for many articles and books, because of its importance in marine engineering.
However, it will not be analyzed in this work.
F IGURE 4.- C AVITATING
HYDROFOIL
Another important type of cavitation occurs in marine propellers. There is also

a lot of bibliography about this problem. For instance, Marine Propellers and
Propulsion (Carlton, J. S.) fully defines this topic. Cavitating bubbles appear on each
blade and in the cores of the tip vortices (low pressure zones). There is a similarity of
the cavity on each blade to the one that occurs on the hydrofoil with the sharp leading
edge.
Other machines where cavitation can appear are pumps, turbines, Venturi
tubes. In fact, it also occurs simply because of fluid effects (when a solid body enters
water at high speed, in turbulent shear flows, bubble chambers, etc.).However, the
focus will be on the cavitation that occurs in the installation under study, and it will
be produced through a Venturi tube.
2.2.1.
C AV I T A T I O N
T HR O UG H A
V EN T U RI
TUBE
When studying cavitation in Venturi tubes, it is necessary to describe the

Venturi effect or Bernoullis principle, which is the phenomenon that causes the
pressure change (a sequence of high-low-high pressure). The Venturi effect is similar
to a jet effect, when the area crossed by the flow is decreased, due to conservation of
mass, there is an increase of the velocity and therefore in the kinetic energy that
results in a pressure decrease. The following picture describes this effect, where point
2 is called the throat of the tube. So the high fluid velocity in the throat drops the
pressure of the liquid.
F IGURE 5. - F LOW
THROUGH A
V ENTURI
TUBE
As far as is known, cavitation requires a big pressure drop, but it is also

important to note that the damage usually occurs with high pressure differentials.
Therefore the components most subject to damage will be Venturi tubes, pumps and
valves, where the transition of pressure is sudden.
2.3
C AVITATION
DAMAGE
There are numerous variables that affect this damage. Some of them are
mechanical factors of the system, while others will be liquid properties. The object of
this work will be to control some of these variables in order to measure the amount of
cavitation the installation is experiencing, and then relate this value to the sound
spectrums of each measurement. After that, it will be possible to tell if cavitation is
happening or not just depending on the presence of noise.
Here there are a few of these variables:
Factors of the system: suction pressure, velocity, temperature, surface roughness.
Liquid properties: vapor pressure, viscosity, density.
And now the effect of these variables on cavitation can be explained, as it can
be seen on the following chart:
Variable
Increase suction pressure
Increasing velocity
Increased temperature
Increased surface roughness
Lower vapor pressure
Higher viscosity
Higher density
T ABLE 1. - V ARIABLES
Cavitation
Reduced3
Increased
Increased4
Increased
Reduced
Reduced
Increased
AND THEIR EFFECT ON CAVITATION
It is important to remark that a reduction in the amount of cavitation does not

necessary have to be for the best of the installation. In fact, it can increase the
cavitation damage. This is produced because the reduction of the amount of cavitation
is usually generated by reducing the formation and growth of bubbles, but it increases
the number of collapses and as a result, the quantity of energy released. There will be
fewer bubbles, but they will be smaller, and therefore the effect of concentrating the
energy into a smaller area will eventually cause more damage.
Most of these changes on cavitation can be explained by studying the cavitation number,
2( )
which is the most important indicator of the level of cavitation: = 2
3
Where:
is the reference pressure
is the vapor pressure
is the density of the fluid
is the velocity
So a higher cavitation number means that cavitation is less likely to happen.
4 An increase of temperature means an increase on vapor pressure.
Some other contributing factors that influence the cavitation damage are the
presence of gases dissolved in the liquid5 and a high ratio between vapor and liquid
specific volume, which increases the volume of the bubble
2.4
F LUIDS
INVOLVED .
The main fluid used during the measurements will be distilled water;
nevertheless two additional fluids will be studied, composed of the same water and
different solutions of Polyethylene oxide, which will result in a non-Newtonian fluid.
Non-Newtonian fluids behave differently than Newtonian ones, and this is going to be
explained on the following point.
2.4.1.
N E W T O N I AN
FL UI DS
It is a fluid in which the velocity gradient is directly proportional to the shear

stress. If two flat plates of area A are separated by a layer of fluid of thickness d and
move relative to each other at a velocity , then the rate of shear is /d and the shear
stress is F/A where F is the force applied to each. For a Newtonian fluid:
(1)
Where is the Newtonian viscosity. Many liquids are Newtonian over a wide
range of temperatures and pressures.
F IGURE 6. - T WO
2.4.2.
FLAT PLATES SEPAR ATED BY A LAYER OF F LUID
N O N -Newtonian fluids
Some fluids show a different behavior under shear stress; these ones are called
Non-Newtonian fluids. For instance, in some liquids the viscosity increases as the
velocity gradient increases, so the faster the liquid moves, the more viscous it becomes.
Such liquids are called dilatant. Dilatant fluids usually are pastes and suspensions. In
When the bubble is formed, the gas occupies part of the bubble volume. Then the vapor inside
condenses almost instantaneously during the collapse, but the gas is unable to go back in
solution as fast, and it acts as a shock absorber.
5
other cases, not only the velocity gradient, but also the time will have an effect on
viscosity. This is called thixotropy. For these liquids, the faster they move, the less
viscous it becomes. This is what happens to most lubricating oils and nondrip paints.
Another example is the non-Newtonian flow of macromolecules in solution or in
polymer melts. In this case the shearing force F is not parallel to the shear planes and
the linear relationship does not apply. In general, the many types of non-Newtonian
fluid are somewhat complicated and no theory has been developed to accommodate
them fully.
The following figure shows different behaviors for different fluids:
F IGURE 7. - D IFFERENT
2.4.2.1
P O LY E T H Y L EN E
FLUIDS UNDE R SHEAR STRESS AND T HEIR BEHAVIOR
O XI D E
It is a polymeric product which is either a viscous liquid or a wax-like

substance, depending on the degree of polymerization. It is somewhat soluble in water,
and it has no outstanding mechanical properties. The monomeric ethylene oxide is
polymerized in the presence of acidic or alkaline catalyst, such as boron trifluoride, tin
tetrachloride or calcium oxide. The technological applications of polyethylene oxide are
limited by its partial water solubility. It is used almost exclusively as a softener,
textile conditioner, wood protection, water-soluble lubricant, stabilizer for lubricating
oils, emulsifier, additive to cellulose nitrate paints and in the production of plastic
foils.
2.5
N OISE
Cavitation is the most intense source of noise in fluid machinery and

underwater acoustics. Cavitation inception, the development that follows and the
sound emitted by the intense, interactive processes that take place during this
development are extremely complex. A theoretical analysis would be restricted to
isolated spherical bubbles containing varying amounts of non-condensable gas. This
theoretical analysis was, at first, approached from the behavior of this single
cavitation bubble such that the bubble dynamics were considered into a variable
pressure field.
These analyses make up a valuable contribution to the understanding of
cavitation noise, but it remains largely unsolved, given its complexity. For example, if
it is based on measurements of noise radiated by scale models in a water tunnel, a
large number of hydrodynamic and hydroacustic conditions must be accomplished in
order to achieve a good extrapolation. To get this extrapolation it is interesting to
perform several measurements to have full-scale data of the sound, what is called a set
of canonical experiments in the environment in which the machine operates. This is
exactly what it is going to be performed in this work.
Just prior to visible cavitation inception, it has been observed that the
measured noise increase in a narrow frequency range. When the collapse state is
reached, shock waves are produced and they produce in turn noise. This noise is
essentially white noise, covering a frequency band up to around 1 MHz.
2.5.1.
T H E R A Y L EI G H -P L E SS E T
EQ UA T I O N
Before any discussion of cavitation noise, it is useful to identify the natural

frequency with which individual bubbles will oscillate into a quiescent liquid. This
natural frequency can be obtained from the Rayleigh-Plesset equation. This equation
governs the dynamics of a spherical bubble in an infinite body of liquid.
() ()
3 2
= 2 + 2 ( ) +
(2)
Where () is the pressure within the bubble, assumed to be uniform, () is

the external pressure infinitely far from the bubble, is the density of the
surrounding liquid, assumed constant, R(t) is the radius of the bubble, is the
kinematic viscosity of the surrounding liquid, assumed to be constant and S is the
surface tension of the bubble.
In order to calculate the natural frequency of oscillation of an individual
bubble, R(t) will be substituted for an expression consisting of a constant, , plus a
small sinusoidal perturbation of amplitude, , at a general frequency, . Steady state
oscillations like these ones, need a pressure to be preserved. This pressure will consist
of another constant , plus a sinusoidal perturbation of amplitude , and frequency, .
Obtaining the relation between the linear perturbations, and , from the RayleighPlesset equation, it is found that the ratio, / , has a maximun at a resonant
frequency, , given by:
= (
)
(

(3)
The results of this equation for bubbles in water at a temperature of 27 C for

various levels of pressure are:
F IGURE 8. - R ESULTS
OF EQUATION
FOR WATER AT
300 K
Note that the bubbles below about 0.03 m are damped, and have no resonant
frequency. Even though the nuclei are excited in a highly nonlinear way by the
cavitation, one might expect that the spectrum of the noise should have a wide
maximum at the peak frequency corresponding to the size of the most numerous nuclei
participating in the cavitation, since this frequency would be the resonance frequency.
Typically, this would correspond to the radius of the critical nucleus 6. The typical
range of frequencies produced by cavitation is between 10-100 kHz, which is correlated
with a nuclei size between 10-100 m. This problem of predicting noise from cavitation
using the Rayleigh-Plesset equation was first used by Fitzpatrick and Strasberg
(1956); focusing on individual collapses and the spectra that such process would
produce. The noise from an individual cavitation bubble is shown in the figure below.
F IGURE 9. - I NDIVIDUAL
BUBBLE COLLAPSING
In the figure, it can be seen a large positive peak of pressure, which is of course
the first collapse; however it can also be noted a second collapse after a few
oscillations. The radiated acoustic pressure is related to the second derivative of the
volume of the bubble, V(t).

(4)
Where l is the distance of the measurement from the center of the bubble. The
pressure peak corresponds to the point where the bubble is close to the minimum size
during the collapse. Then the impulse, I, is defined as the area under the pressure
curve. Afterwards, 1 and 2 are selected to cover the pulse, from = 0.
(5)
This critical nucleus can be obtained from the equation:

~/ 2 ( )
Cpmin is the minimum pressure coefficient
Now that the behavior of an individual bubble is familiar, a full spectrum of
this specific perform can be achieved. Besides, it can be assumed that random
cavitation would also follow that same spectrum.
F IGURE 10. - I NDIVIDUAL
BUBBLE NOISE SPECTRUM
This figure will be of great importance for the research, because it is a very
characteristic frequency pattern from 1 kHz to 50 kHz. The drop about 80 kHz
corresponds the limit of the measuring instrument, in this case a hydrophone, which is
the most used device for measuring noise in water.
For an axial flow pump, the spectrum is shown below.
F IGURE 11. - A XIAL
FLOW PUMP NOISE SPECTRUM
In this figure, it can be noted the shaft or blade passage7 frequencies that occur
in the absence of cavitation, but may be amplified or attenuated by cavitation.
2.5.2.
S O UN D
P R E SS UR E
The level of the sound produced by a cavitating flow is the result of two factors,
namely the impulse I, produced by each event of collapse (equation 5) and the event
rate or number of events per second, , which is somewhat like a density of collapses.
(6)
The development of cavitation noise can be understood by studying the scaling

of these two components. Nevertheless, it is required an omission of some factors of
proportionality, since it will be a qualitative analysis.-
A blade passage causes the flow an internal loss of heat, due to the difference between the
actual enthalpy of the working fluid at the exit of this passage and the enthalpy for isentropic
flow. The reason is friction of the working fluid.
7
On the one hand, there is the non-dimensional impulse from a single cavitation
event, defined by:
= /
(7)
Where U and D are reference velocity and length in the flow. This impulse is
strongly correlated with the maximum volume of the cavitation bubble, and appears
virtually independent of the other flow parameters.
~ = /
(8)
The evaluation of the impulse is completed by some estimate of the maximum

bubble size, RM. This size is independent of U for a given cavitation number, so I will
be linear in U. Modeling is complicated. Given a streamtube with a cross sectional
area A in the upstream reference flow, the result would be:
=
(9)
Where N is the nuclei concentration per volume. Therefore, the sound pressure
level will result in:
( ) /
( 10 )
Nonetheless some constants have been omitted. Thus, scales with 2 and 4 ,
since A~f (D2). This scaling with velocity does correspond to the often observed in
simple traveling bubble flows. However, only those nuclei larger than a critical size
will grow to become cavitation bubbles. This critical radius is a function of the
cavitation number and U. This means N will be a function of and U. In the end, the
pressure of sound will be function of (n>2).
It has been studied how the acoustic pressure depends on the size of the bubble.
In the following figure, this relation is shown:
F IGURE 12. - S OUND
PRESSURE PRODUCED BY AN INDIVIDUAL BUBBLE
Note that there is a little delay { } which appears due to the fact that the
sound travels through the water at a velocity c, equal to 1450m/s. Therefore, it just
takes the instantaneous radius and its derivatives to fully get the acoustic energy
produced by a bubble. In the picture, it can be observed the first collapse, which is the
principal, and then successive collapses8 after rebounds.
Finally, it can be obtained the acoustic energy emitted by the bubble; it will be
determined by the following expression:
=
()

There is more than just one collapse (see figure 9 in page 19).
( 11 )
During the expansion of the bubble, it should be assumed that the pressure
applied is constant and the inequilibrium of pressure is equal to p. in this case it is
known that the radial velocity of the bubble is almost constant. A good approximation
of the acoustic energy radiated is given by the following equation:
( )
= .
( 12 )
Which is, in fact, proportional to the maximum volume attained by the bubble.
The spectrum of the radiation caused by acoustic cavitation follows singles
lines rising above a noise base. These lines position themselves according to
harmonics, subharmonics and ultrasubharmonics of the excitation frequency. The
following figure shows an example of this effect for a cavitation region in water. The
measurement was taken by a piezoceramic transducer at a fundamental resonance
frequency of 10 kHz.
F IGURE 13. - A COUSTIC
SPECTRUM FOR CAVITATION IN WATER
The presence of these single lines in the measurement is related to nonlinear

dynamics of single gas bubbles that occur in the field of an intense acoustic wave and
experience a series of bifurcations of period doubling or even a transition to dynamic
chaos.
So far, the nature of these spectral lines of a finite width has been poorly
understood.
2.5.3.
M EA S UR I N G
DE V I C E S
Measuring sound underwater is quite different from measuring airborne sound.

Nonetheless, it is also measured in decibels, due to the advantages that using a
logarithmic scale can carry9. Thus, the decibel provides a convenient way of handling
large numbers and large changes in variables. It also permits quantities to be
multiplied simply by adding their decibel equivalents.
The differences between underwater sound and airborne sound include: a
different reference pressure (1 Pa instead of 20 Pa), different hearing sensitivity
and differences in interpretation.
Something has already been pointed about these measuring devices. Commonly
it is used a transducer. A modern transducer is based on piezoelectric ceramic
properties. This device changes physical shape under an electrical current. This
change in shape causes a pressure wave and then it converts this wave into an
electrical current. Thus, it can be said that the transducer is both source and receiver
of the sound.
When a transducer converts electrical energy to sound energy, there is a loss in
friction and dielectric effects. Usually, a ceramic transducer has an efficiency of 50
percent. This efficiency is defined by the ratio of power:
= /
Usually a transducer is resonant. Therefore they will perform the best
measurements at the frequency they are designed for, and the further from this value,
the more the sensitivity drops. It is interesting to utilize a control parameter to
indicate us the bandwidth. The typical Q-value10 is between 5 and 10.
Another useful tool to control how sensitive the value is measured is the beam
pattern, which indicates the sensitivity for different directions (being the maximum
value usually at a perpendicular direction to the transducer face).
It is known that many processes in nature have a great dynamic range. Using a logarithmic
scale allows us to work with smaller numbers, and the measurement will be approximately
linear to the perceived sensation of sound. Therefore is easier and clearer to employ decibels to
quantify noise.
10 = /
9
F IGURE 14. - S ECTION
OF A USUAL CE RAMIC TRANSDUCER
The typical transducer used to measure underwater noise is a hydrophone.

Nevertheless it can also be used a microphone with a correct isolation in some cases
where using a hydrophone can be difficult or problematic due to vibration.
19 Setup and equipment
3. S ETUP AND EQUIPMENT

3.1
I NSTALLATION
The installation used to measure noise is shown in the picture below.
F IGURE 15. S ETUP
SKETCH
As it can be seen, it is mainly composed of the following elements:
Venturi tube
Tank
Pump
Inverter
Measuring devices (thermometer, flow meter, tachometer, manometers, etc.)
It is important to mention that there is an additional pipeline which is not

going to be used.
F IGURE 16. M ANOMETERS
Cavitation is going to be measured through the Venturi tube, so it should be

properly isolated. To that end, it is going to be used Styrofoam (extruded polystyrene
foam) because of its great isolating properties. The picture below will show this
isolation:
F IGURE 17. - I SOLATION
OF THE
V ENTURI
TUBE
More information about the pump used can be found in Appendix I.
3.2
M ICROPHONE
As it was said earlier, it is viable to use a microphone to measure cavitation

noise as long as using a hydrophone is complicated or requires a vibration isolator.
This is the case of installation studied, where a hydrophone would necessitate a
difficult setting up in the pipeline for each measure, and the problem generated by the
vibration and resonance in the pipeline would require employing a vibration isolator.
For these reasons, it will be interesting to use a microphone, since the setup
will be easier. On the one hand it will not be necessary to worry about a Q-value, so
the measurements will be more accurate; however the range of frequencies measured
will be from 1 Hz to 20 kHz. Nevertheless, this range will be adequate to catch the
main noise spectrum of cavitation.
The microphone used is a Behringer C-1U, which is an electrostatic microphone
shown in the picture below. Its main characteristics are also exposed in Appendix I.
F IGURE 18. - B EHRINGER C-1U
The microphone includes a USB port which will allow us to connect it to the
computer.
3.3
S OFTWARE
It is required an audio software application to process the signal obtained by

the microphone. For this purpose it is going to be used Cool Edit Pro, developed by
Syntrillium Software Corporation, nowadays property of Adobe. It is an advanced
multi track sound editing program for windows. Its main capabilities are: sound filters

via digital signal processing effect, multi track function, plug-ins capability and batch
process files. The version will be 2.1.
The following picture shows a typical screenshot of the program:
F IGURE 19. - C OOL E DIT P RO
SCREENSHOT
After all measurements are completed, and the signal is processed (it will be
exposed in the next section) the results will be exported to Excel and Matlab. Then
these programs will be used to classify all data and plot the outcomes.
23 Procedure and measurements
4. P ROCEDURE AND MEASUREMENTS

The procedure to be followed will be to take measurements of cavitation in
clean water. Afterwards, the water will be changed and replaced by a solution of 50
ppm of PEO in water. The last measurement will be made in a 100 ppm solution of
PEO. Once these stages are finished, all recorded audio files will be analyzed and
processed.
During the following chapters, the procedure will be fully explained and
described. For these tests, some parameters are going to be measured in order to
control the correct progress of the experiment. These parameters will be:
Temperature. It will affect vapor pressure and density of the fluid.

Inverter frequency. Changing the frequency will modify the speed of the pump.
Rotational speed of the pump.
Torque. It will indicate the performance of the pump.
Flow rate. It is necessary to calculate the velocity of the flow.
Pump pressure.
Pressure before the Venturi tube. It is needed to estimate the cavitation number.
4.1
F IRST
TEST :
C LEAN
WATER UNDER CAV ITATION
For this test, it is going to be used water, and there will be two scenarios: one of
them will present cavitation and the other will not.

For this experiment, the installation will have the following setup:
F IGURE 20. - F IRST
SETUP FOR TEST ONE
The fluid goes through one pipeline. Then the pump starts driving fluid
through the circuit. Initially, the inverter is set to 25 Hz. In this situation, there will
be cavitation through the Venturi tube.
The procedure will be to start raising the frequency of the inverter and
measure noise of flow through the Venturi tube. The objective of this first
measurement is to get the noise from cavitation. Unfortunately, even though the
Venturi is correctly isolated with Styrofoam, there are several interferences. The most
important interference is the noise from the pump, but it also has to be taken into
account noise produced by the flow through pipelines. That is the reason why it will be
required another measurement.

The following table shows the development of all control parameters.
Inverter
setting
Rotational
speed
Torque
Flow rate
Pump
pressure
Hz
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
rpm
711
739
769
797
827
853
881
909
939
967
995
1023
1051
1077
1105
1131
1159
1158
1213
1239
1265
1293
1321
1347
1371
1397
Nm
1.32
1.42
1.44
1.49
1.56
1.62
1.69
1.76
1.84
1.9
1.98
2.05
2.13
2.21
2.29
2.38
2.48
2.57
2.65
2.75
2.85
2.96
3.05
3.15
3.26
3.38
l/min
23
23.2
23.7
24.1
24.5
24.9
25.3
25.9
26.4
26.9
27.4
28.1
28.3
28.9
29.6
29.8
30.5
30.8
31.5
31.7
32.4
33
33.5
33.9
34.5
34.9
bar
0.384
0.435
0.489
0.546
0.605
0.661
0.724
0.786
0.856
0.923
0.992
1.066
1.136
1.211
1.286
1.361
1.441
1.521
1.601
1.686
1.766
1.856
1.946
2.036
2.125
2.216
T ABLE 2. - P ROGRESS
Venturi
pressure
drop
mbar
297
344
400
452
508
563
621
683
744
809
875
939
1009
1073
1145
1212
1283
1356
1433
1505
1582
1653
1730
1810
1869
1870
Pressure
before
Venturi
[mbar]
232
275
326
376
433
483
542
600
673
739
803
868
938
1002
1080
1145
1221
1295
1375
1445
1520
1603
1682
1763
1827
1854
C
25.9
25.9
26
26
26.1
26.2
26.2
26.3
26.3
26.4
26.5
26.5
26.6
26.7
26.7
26.8
26.8
26.9
27
27.1
27.1
27.2
27.3
27.4
27.5
27.6
OF ALL PARAM ETERS FOR THE FIRST SETUP
As it can be seen in the table, the inverter controls the rotational speed of the
pump increasing it, and the flow rate also goes up. Therefore there will be an audio file
for each measurement, 25 audio files in total. These recordings have an average
duration of about 30 seconds. The following picture shows the spectrum of one audio
file.
F IGURE 21. - F ULL
SPECTRUM MEASURED .
F REQUENCY
OF
27 H Z /769
RPM
Note that the frequency scale is logarithmic, the reason if it is going to be

explained below. Pump noise belongs to low frequencies, less than 1 kHz, therefore
using a logarithmic scale will show undoubtedly the difference between this spectrum
and the one denoised, which will be achieved as soon as all interferences are cut and
the clean spectrum of cavitation is obtained. Using a logarithmic scale is simply a
matter of clearness in this case.
The second test will be performed, where it is going to be used a different setup,
as it can be seen in the following image.
F IGURE 22. - S ECOND
SETUP FOR TEST ONE

Now the flow crosses both pipelines, and there will be no cavitation, since the
flow is shared by both pipelines, and the Reynolds number of the flow through the
Venturi will be lesser.
It has to be noted that the objective of this second measurement is mainly to
record the noise produced by the pump while pumping water, in order to denoise the
initial measurements recorded. Therefore, 25 additional measurements will be made,
each one for each rotational speed of the pump, since an individual speed will produce
a certain sound.
The evolution of all parameters during this second experiment will be as
follows:
Inverter
setting
Hz
24.8
25.8
26.8
27.8
28.8
29.7
30.69
31.63
32.63
33.63
34.6
35.57
36.54
37.43
38.43
39.33
40.33
41.26
42.19
43.15
44.12
45.09
46.05
47.02
47.92
48.93
Rotational
speed
rpm
711
739
769
797
827
853
881
909
939
967
995
1023
1051
1077
1105
1131
1159
1158
1213
1239
1265
1293
1321
1347
1371
1397
T ABLE 3. - P ROGRESS
Torque Flow rate

Nm
1.18
1.23
1.25
1.28
1.32
1.36
1.38
1.41
1.46
1.5
1.54
1.57
1.6
1.64
1.7
1.77
1.87
1.91
1.93
2
2.09
2.15
2.18
2.3
2.43
2.49
l/min
29.9
31.5
32.8
33.8
35.1
36.5
37.5
38.7
39.8
41.4
42.7
43.7
44.7
45.8
47.2
48.4
49.5
50.8
51.8
52.6
54.1
55.3
56.4
57.5
58.9
59.6
Pump
pressure
bar
0.146
0.161
0.171
0.185
0.196
0.206
0.216
0.246
0.245
0.26
0.276
0.286
0.301
0.316
0.331
0.341
0.356
0.376
0.386
0.406
0.426
0.441
0.461
0.474
0.495
0.51
OF ALL PARAM ETERS FOR THE FIRST SETUP
T
C
28.5
28.6
28.7
28.7
28.7
28.7
28.8
28.8
28.8
28.9
28.9
29
29
29
29.1
29.1
29.2
29.3
29.3
29.4
29.5
29.5
29.6
29.7
29.8
30
As it can be seen, the inverter frequency is slightly lower, and there are no
measurements of pressure in the Venturi tube, since they are no longer of interest.
Now it is going to be shown the spectrum of sound for 769 rpm of rotational
speed, which is going to be the file used for denoising the spectrum shown above in
picture 21.
F IGURE 23. - S PECTRUM
OF NOISE FOR
769
RPM
It can be seen in the spectrum a higher level of noise at lower frequencies, from
20 Hz to 1 kHz. Thereafter higher frequencies show several peaks of lower values.
After the measuring stage, the denoising phase is performed. This phase will be
carried out by the program Cool Edit Pro. Before explaining the procedure to be
followed, the picture below shows the result of a completed denoising operation,
specifically the one for 769 rpm, so it can be seen the effect of it.
F IGURE 24. - D ENOISING P ROCESS
FOR
769
RPM

It can be seen in the picture that first it is obtained the full spectrum of noise
for a single rotating speed, and then it is measured sound for the same speed in a noncavitating scenario. Finally, the definitive cavitation spectrum is achieved by
subtracting both spectrums obtained. Note the great impact at low frequencies.
In order to begin the denoising process it is just required to have both audio
files, one from the first test and another from the second. It is relevant to add that
non-cavitating audio files last about 30 seconds, just as the cavitating ones. The
sequence is as follows:
a) Open the non-cavitation file and select a short section of the record. It should
be of about 10 seconds. For this selection it is important to avoid possible
glitches.
b) Once a good section is selected, it is time to get the sound profile of the
selection. This can be found in the Effects menu, by clicking on Noise
reduction.
F IGURE 25. - N OISE
REDUCTION MENU
c) On the Noise reduction window, click on get profile from selection. A FFT size
of 16384 points should be appropriate. This profile has to be saved to use it
later.
d) Now the cavitation file has to be opened. After all audio is selected, click again
on Noise reduction. Then, the profile saved before has to be loaded. Click ok
and scan the file. The result of this scan should be a clean sound of cavitation.
The best way to check if the procedure is correctly completed is to listen to the
file.

Once the process is finished, it is obtained the correct spectrum of cavitation.
Nevertheless, the microphone uses a 16-bit analog-digital converter, which means that
the noise levels are stored in digital format from 96 dB to 0 dB. Therefore it is needed
to adapt this signal to a more clear scale, so the results can be plotted and visualized
properly.
4.2
S ECOND
TEST :
A QUEOUS
SOLUTION OF P EO UNDER CAVITATION
The second experiment involves two different solutions of polyethylene oxide.

This PEO will have a molecular weight approximate of 8.000.000, and it is inhibited
with 200-500 ppm of BHT. Again, there will be two sets of measurements. The
objective of this experiment will be to measure noise of cavitation of water with a
solution of polymer to check possible differences between the results obtained in clean
water and these new measurements. During the testing the polymer chains will break
and there will be degradation of them, so this effect can also influence the results. It is
important to clarify that these tests will be performed at a constant rotational speed of
the pump of 1000 rpm.
Every experiment will last 60 minutes; therefore the order will be as follows:
First experiment
Second experiment
Third experiment
Fourth experiment
First solution of PEO without cavitation

First solution of PEO with cavitation
Second solution of PEO without cavitation
Second solution of PEO with cavitation
For each experiment, sound will be measured 5 times during the test, in order
to look for any evolutions of noise, due to the polymer degradation process exposed
before.
The first solution will have a concentration of 50 ppm of PEO in water. Just as
it was performed on the clean water test, for no cavitation the solution will flow
through both pipelines, and for cavitation just through the one that incorporates the
Venturi nozzle. It is important to add that, since polymer chains break during the
experiment, it is necessary to change all fluid between both experiments.

In this case, the parameters are presented in the next tables:
Time
No Cavitation
T
Flow Rate
min
8
16
31
61
C
23.9
24.1
24.6
26
T ABLE 4. -F IRST
Time
min
7
16
31
47
63
l/min
45.3
44.5
44.3
44.3
SOLUTION , NO CAVITATION .
Cavitation
T
Flow Rate
C
25
25.5
25.7
26.5
27.2
Pump
Pressure
bar
0.285
0.285
0.285
0.285
l/min
28
27.8
28
28
28.8
T ABLE 5. -F IRST
Pump
Pressure
bar
1.065
1.03
1.02
1.015
1.015
C ONTROL
Torque
Nm
1.96
1.82
1.78
1.76
1.78
SOLUTION , CAVITATION .
Torque
Nm
1.51
1.48
1.5
1.66
PARAMETERS
Venturi
pressure
drop
mbar
924
909
895
890
885
C ONTROL
Pressure
before
Venturi
mbar
850
840
825
815
815
PARAMETERS
As it can be observed, there are no important variations on the control

parameters. After all measurements solution was changed from the installation and a
new solution of 100 ppm of PEO is incorporated.
For this set of measurements the procedure is the same, and the table below
shows the development of all parameters:
No Cavitation
Time
T
Flow Rate
min
6
16
33
47
60
C
25.2
25.3
25.7
26.2
26.6
T ABLE 6. -S ECOND
l/min
44
44.3
44
44
44
Pump
Pressure
bar
0.285
0.285
0.285
0.285
0.285
SOLUTION , NO CAVITATION .
C ONTROL
Torque
Nm
1.25
1.28
1.28
1.31
1.42
PARAMETERS
Time
min
6
16
31
46
61
Cavitation
T
Flow Rate
C
25.3
25.4
25.9
26.5
27.2
Pump
Pressure
l/min
27.8
28
28.2
28.4
28.7
T ABLE 7. -S ECOND
bar
1.085
1.055
1.03
1.025
1.02
Torque
Nm
1.93
1.88
1.9
1.81
1.77
SOLUTION , CAVITATION .
Venturi
pressure
drop
mbar
955
930
906
900
895
C ONTROL
Pressure
before
Venturi
mbar
890
865
840
835
830
PARAMETERS
Using the cavitation number as indicator of the presence of cavitation can be

really useful, since it is easy to obtain it through the parameters shown previously.
Therefore, it is going to be calculated for each situation of cavitation. As explained
before, the equation employed is:
( )
( 13 )
Since is a dimensionless number, it can be calculated from any reference

values. In this case, the reference will be the pipe section before the Venturi. Where P1
is obtained by the expression:
= ( ) +
( 14 )
With Pa, atmospherical pressure, assumed constant and equal to 100,2 kPa.
33 Results
5. R ESULTS
This chapter will display the results of all measurements and will point out the
most interesting ones, in order to be discussed below.
5.1
R ESULTS
FOR W ATER
First of all, it is going to be studied the development of the cavitation number

during the experiment. Taking into account the variation of density and vapor
pressure due to the increase of temperature, several lineal interpolations must be
performed. The results are shown in the following table:
T
C
25.9
25.9
26
26
26.1
26.2
26.2
26.3
26.3
26.4
26.5
26.5
26.6
26.7
26.7
26.8
26.8
26.9
27
27.1
27.1
27.2
27.3
27.4
27.5
27.6
Venturi
pressure
mbar
232
275
326
376
433
483
542
600
673
739
803
868
938
1002
1080
1145
1221
1295
1375
1445
1520
1603
1682
1763
1827
1854
Flow rate
Velocity
pv
l/min
m/s
[Pa]
[kg/m3]
[]
1.35200875
1.36376535
1.39315684
1.41667004
1.44018323
1.46369643
1.48720963
1.52247942
1.55187091
1.58126241
1.6106539
1.65180199
1.66355859
1.69882839
1.73997648
1.75173308
1.79288117
1.81051607
1.85166416
1.86342076
1.90456885
1.93983864
1.96923014
1.99274333
2.02801313
2.05152632
3341.15
3341.15
3360
3360
3381
3402
3402
3423
3423
3444
3465
3465
3486
3507
3507
3528
3528
3549
3570
3591
3591
3612
3633
3654
3675
3696
23
23.2
23.7
24.1
24.5
24.9
25.3
25.9
26.4
26.9
27.4
28.1
28.3
28.9
29.6
29.8
30.5
30.8
31.5
31.7
32.4
33
33.5
33.9
34.5
34.9
T ABLE 8. - C AVITATION
996.845
996.845
996.82
996.55
996.793
996.766
996.766
996.739
996.739
996.712
996.685
996.685
996.658
996.631
996.631
996.604
996.604
996.577
996.55
996.522
996.522
996.494
996.466
996.438
996.41
996.382
NUMBER EVOLUTION FOR WATER
131.776369
134.152804
133.807893
134.437983
135.545949
135.892716
136.982031
135.715057
136.705209
136.953766
136.938873
134.981732
138.144796
136.907381
135.678752
138.104504
136.582826
138.456351
137.045105
139.358887
137.551901
137.014936
137.037182
137.909625
136.271393
134.447018
34 Results
As cavitation number is just a dimensionless indicator of cavitation, it can be
observed that cavitation occurs during all measurements.
As it was mentioned when the microphone was described, the range of
frequencies for a good measurement goes from 1 Hz to 20 kHz, which means that
values close to these limits should be omitted, since they can be erroneous. Therefore,
results from 20 Hz to about 18 kHz will be assumed correct. The following figure
shows a spectrum of noise for water, specifically for 25 Hz and 711 rpm of rotational
speed:
50
Noise (dB)
40
30
20
10
0
20
2020
4020
6020
8020
10020
12020
14020
16020
18020
Frequency (Hz)
SPECTRUM OF WATER FOR
711
RPM
This spectrum for 711 rpm can be compared with other rotational speeds. It
can be observed in the following image, where it is compared with a rotational speed of
1397 rpm.
35 Results
50
Noise (dB)
40
30
20
10
0
20
2020
4020
6020
8020
10020
12020
14020
16020
18020
Frequency (Hz)
711
1397
SPECTRUMS OF
711
RPM AND
1397
RPM
In view of this comparison, it can be observed a pattern of noise, followed by

both spectra. However, the best way to check the complete evolution of noise through
all rotational speeds will be a 3D surface where any change can be detected. For this
purpose it is going to be used MATLAB. The following surface shows these spectra.
FULL SPECTRA
36 Results
In the figure, it can be seen a slight raise in noise when the rotational speed is
increased. Nonetheless, seen from above it is easier to get a visual image of the effect.
SPECTRA SEEN FROM ABOVE
In the figure it can be observed a raise of decibels especially at about 2 kHz and
10 kHz, although there is a general increase in all a frequencies. It is also important to
add that there is a zone at low rotational speeds (from 700 rpm to 800 rpm) where
some values are likely to be erroneous, probably due to the denoising process.
5.2
R ESULTS
FOR AQUEOUS S OLUTION OF
P EO
For this experiment, as there will be a single rotational speed, the display and
analysis of the results will be quite different.
37 Results
5.2.1
50
PPM OF
P EO
For this concentration of the solution, the following table will display the
evolution of the cavitation number during the process.
T
Venturi
pressure
mbar
C
25
25.5
25.7
26.5
27.2
Flow rate
Velocity
pv
l/min
m/s
[Pa]
[kg/m3]
[]
850
840
825
815
815
28 1.6459237
27.8 1.6341671
28 1.6459237
28 1.6459237
28.8 1.69295009
3171.5
3265.75
3303.45
3465
3612
NUMBER EVOLUTION FOR
50
997.07
996.945
996.895
996.685
996.494
PPM OF
134.779655
135.92103
132.854194
132.021806
124.710108
S OLUTION
Degradation occurs mainly in the pump, but can also occur in the Venturi,
maybe supported by cavitation itself. The next plot shows how noise spectrum changes
from the first eight minutes to the last ones.
60
Noise (dB)
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
Frequency (Hz)
8min
F IGURE 30. -
61min
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FIRST MINUTES OF EXPERIMENT AND THE LAST ONES FOR
50
PPM
It can be observed how the spectrum for 61 minutes is clearly quieter. If they
are plotted together with the 16 minutes measure it can be seen a progression.
38 Results
60
50
Noise (dB)
40
30
20
10
0
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
Frequency (Hz)
8min
F IGURE 31. - E VOLUTION
16min
61min
OF SPECTRA DURING THE EXPERIMENT FOR
50
PPM
On figure 32 it is shown the surface of the entire experiment seen from above,
where it can be seen the decrease of noise as the process progresses.
F IGURE 32. -
FULL SPECTRA FOR
50
PPM OF SOLUTION
39 Results
5.2.2
100
PPM OF
P EO
For this new concentration, the results follow the same pattern. Cavitation
numbers for each measurement are displayed in the table.
T
Venturi
pressure
mbar
C
25.3
25.4
25.9
26.5
27.2
Flow rate
Velocity
pv
l/min
m/s
[Pa]
[kg/m3]
[]
890
865
840
835
830
27.8 1.6341671
28 1.6459237
28.2 1.65768029
28.4 1.66943689
28.7 1.68707179
3228.05
3246.9
3341.15
3465
3612
NUMBER EVOLUTION FOR
100
PPM OF
996.995 139.698433
996.97 135.848099
996.845 132.05066
996.685 129.76907
996.494 126.638423
S OLUTION
The following plot compares the first measurement at 6 minutes of experiment,

and the last one, at 60 minutes.
60
Noise (dB)
50
40
30
20
10
0
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
Frequency (Hz)
6 min
F IGURE 33. -
61 min
COMPARISON BETWEEN THE FIRST MINUTES OF EXPERIMENT AND THE LAST ONES FOR
100
PPM
This effect of decreasing noise happens again for this new solution, and now the
effect is greater. Taking a look at the full spectra, the entire development can be
observed.
40 Results
F IGURE 34. - F ULL
SPECTRA FOR
100
PPM OF SOLUTION
41 Analysis and Conclusions
6. A NALYSIS AND C ONCLUSIONS

The first and most important conclusion is that cavitation can be detected
using an ordinary electrostatic microphone, which presents a great advantage when
detecting cavitation in a lot of installations, taking into account the ease of use and
installation, without mentioning the lower costs compared to other methods, such as a
hydrophone.
It is also been showed how cavitation at higher speeds causes the general
amount of noise to increase. Another conclusion can be drawn from a simple look at
the charts shown in the results, and it is the typical spectrum of cavitation of the
installation, distinguished by a great influence of low frequencies, below 4 kHz, and
some peaks of sound around frequencies of 4 kHz, 11 kHz and 12 kHz.
However, something that must be pointed out is the presence of undesirable
noise at low speeds (from 700 rpm to 800 rpm) generated due to a non-perfect isolation
probably. Other possible causes are glitches and interferences that seem to disappear
at higher speeds.
Different conclusions can be obtained of the second experiment, involving
polymer degradation mixed with cavitation. Most of this degradation should occur
through the pump; nonetheless, it appears to affect the results a lot. This indicates
that the fluid may undergo degradation through the Venturi itself. Other possible
source of noise can be a redirection of polymer chains through the nozzle during the
lifetime of these chains, that is, while degradation is still happening. In any case, it
seems to appear a source of noise added to cavitation. Since the results of this
experiment are denoised using a profile of noise from a non-cavitating setup, this new
sound from the polymer is produced only during cavitation, and it is probably created
by cavitation itself. This effect is more intense for a higher amount of polymer in
water, which is the case of 100 ppm, and this is logical since the number of chains is
greater. This experiment offers clearer results.
The following picture shows the noise effect of chains in motion for 100 ppm of
solution. This image displays how the effect is mitigated and the spectrum tends to a
stable value. It can be also compared with a clean water spectrum of a similar
rotational speed. However, the experiment was made in a different room and a
different day, so there can be some differences between both test conditions.
60
50
Nosie (dB)
40
30
20
10
0
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
20000
18000
20000
Frequency (Hz)
6 min
F IGURE 35. - E VOLUTION
61 min
46 min
OF NOISE PR ODUCED DURING DEGRADATION OF POLYMER
60
Noise (dB)
50
40
30
20
10
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
Frequency (Hz)
water
F IGURE 36. - C OMPARISON
6 min
61 min
OF CLEAN WATER VS SOLUTION
Figure 36 shows the comparison of clean water and solution, where it can be
observed that, even though the spectra of water and 61 minutes of pumping with
solution of PEO have some differences, the amount of noise is similar, which means
that the polymer is fully degraded by 61 minutes of pumping.

In fact, it can be observed the process of degradation taking a closer look at the
surface of spectra obtained for 100 ppm of solution, where it can be approximated the
duration of degradation.
F IGURE 37. - S TRONG
DEGRADATION ZONE
In the picture above, it can be observed the zone where degradation is more
pronounced, and therefore additional noise is generated. This zone comprises the first
30 minutes of pumping.
44 Appendix I: Technical specifications
7. A PPENDIX I: T ECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

7.1
M ICROPHONE
Behringer C-1U
F IGURE 38. -F REQUENCY
RESPONSE AND POLAR PATTERN OF THE MICROPHONE
F IGURE 39. - T ECHNICAL
7.2
SPECIFICATIONS OF THE MICROPHONE
P UMP
The pump used is a SKA3 self-priming pump manufactured by Hydro Vacuum.

The exact pump model is: Hydro-Vacuum SKA 3 01 1 1010 5 101 1. The picture below
shows a similar pump.
F IGURE 40. - SKA3 S ELF -P RIMING P UMP

The next picture is an exploded view of the pump:
The table below shows the main technical specifications of the pump:
Parameter
Capacity [m3/h]
Delivery head [m]
Pumped liquid temperature
Liquid density
Liquid viscosity
Mass
Motor Power
T ABLE 11. - T ECHNICAL
Value
1.0 3.0
11.0224.0
Up to 110C
Up to 1300 kg/m3
Up to 150 mm2/s
34.0409.0 kg
0.5530.0 kW
SPECIFICATIONS OF THE PUMP

Finally, the following
efficiency/flow and NPSH/flow.
charts
display
F IGURE 41. - H EAD / FLOW
curves
CURVE OF THE PUMP
F IGURE 42. - P OWER / FLOW
CURVE OF THE PUMP
head/flow,
power/flow,
F IGURE 43. - E FFICIENCY / FLOW
CURVE OF THE PUMP
F IGURE 44. - NPSH R / FLOW
OF THE PUMP
49 Bibliography
8. B IBLIOGRAPHY
[1] J. Daintith and E. Martin, Dictionary of Science (6th Edition), Oxford University Press,
2010.
[2] R. Chhabra and J. Richardson, Non-Newtonian flow and applied Rheology - Engineering
Applications (2nd Edition), Elsevier, 2008.
[3] M. Eagleson, Concise Encyclopedia Chemistry, De Gruyter, 1993.
[4] J. S. Carlton, Marine Propellers and Propulsion (2nd edition), Elsevier, 2007.
[5] C. E. Brennen, Hydrodynamics of pumps, Cambridge University Press, 2011.
[6] Y. Lecoffre, Cavitation: Bubble Trackers, CRC press, 1999.
[7] L. O. A. Affonso, Machinery Failure Analysis Handbook - Sustain Your Operations and
Maximize Uptime, Gulf Publishing Company, 2006.
[8] AMC, Engineering Design Handbook. Hydraulic Fluids, Defense Technical Information
Center, 1971.
[9] M. M. Sevik, "Aero- and Hydro- Acoustics," Springer Berln Heidelberg, 1986.
[10] "Diccionary.com," 2014. [Online]. Available: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/wax.
[11] U. o. Sydney, "Aerodynamics for students," 2005. [Online]. Available: http://wwwmdp.eng.cam.ac.uk/web/library/enginfo/aerothermal_dvd_only/aero/fprops/cvanalysis/node4
5.html.
[12] Tech-FAQ, "http://www.tech-faq.com/,"
faq.com/venturi-effect.html.
2014.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.tech-
[13] U. o. Minnesota, "http://cav.safl.umn.edu/," 1 November 2011. [Online]. Available:

http://cav.safl.umn.edu/gallery.htm.
[14] T. U. Mechanical Engineering, "http://www.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/e/," [Online]. Available:
http://www.mm.mech.tohoku.ac.jp/menu10/surface/peening/Cavitation.htm.
[15] H. Sayyaadi, "Assement OF Tandem Venturi on Enhancement of Cavitational Chemical
Reaction," J. Fluids Eng., 2008.
[16] S. o. E. Warwick, "http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/," 2012. [Online]. Available:
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/eng/research/fluids/cavitation/.
50 Bibliography
[17] C. E. Brennen, "Cavitation bubble Dynamics and Noise Production," Pasadena, California,
1993.
[18] "The
engineering
ToolBox,"
[Online].
http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/cavitation-number-d_584.html.
Available:
[19] J.
korpk,
"Transformani
Technologie,"
2013.
[Online].
Available:
http://www.transformacni-technologie.cz/en_vztah-mezi-obvodovou-a-vnitrni-praci-stupnelopatkoveho-stroje.html.
[20] A. Maksimov, "Spectrum of acoustic radiation caused by cavitation: Analytical model,"
Acoustical Physics, vol. 47, no. 1, 2001.
[21] R. Christ and R. L. S. Wernli, ROV Manual - A User Guide for Observation-Class Remotely
Operated Vehicles, Elsevier, 2007.
[22] P. Eisenberg, "Massachusetts Institute of Technology website," [Online]. Available:
http://web.mit.edu/hml/ncfmf/16CAV.pdf.
[23] P.
D.
Joe
Evans,
"Pump
http://www.pumped101.com/cavitation.pdf.
ED
101,"
[Online].
Available:
[24] Behringer, "www.behringer.com," [Online]. Available: http://www.behringer.com/assets/c1u_p0588_m_en.pdf.

[25] Hydro-Vacuum,
"http://www.hydro-vacuum.com.pl/,"
[Online].
Available:
http://www.pumps-hv.com/characteristics_self-priming.php?typ=ska.3&stopien=01.

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CRACOW UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

ACCOUSTIC EFFECTS OF CAVITATION AND DEGRADATION OF

Cracow, acad.. year: 2014/2015

The following project explores the possibility of detecting cavitation in water in

Types of cavitation ............................................................................................. 4

Cavitation damage ............................................................................................. 6

Fluids involved. .................................................................................................. 7

Newtonian fluids ......................................................................................... 7

Non-Newtonian fluids ................................................................................. 7

Cavitation through a Venturi tube ............................................................. 5

The Rayleigh-Plesset equation ................................................................... 9

Sound pressure .......................................................................................... 13

Measuring devices ..................................................................................... 17

Setup and equipment .............................................................................................. 19

Procedure and measurements................................................................................. 23

First test: Clean water under cavitation ......................................................... 23

Second test: Aqueous solution of peo under cavitation ................................... 30

Results for water .............................................................................................. 33

Results for aqueous solution of Peo ................................................................. 36

50 ppm of Peo ............................................................................................ 37

100 ppm of Peo .......................................................................................... 39

Analysis and Conclusions........................................................................................ 41

Appendix I: Technical specifications ....................................................................... 44

F IGURE 1.- C AVITATION

This experiment was first exhibited by Osborne Reynolds in 1894. Increasing

The two-phased flow composed of both liquid and vapor.

F IGURE 2.- P ROCESS

OF FORMATION AND COLLAPSE

JET FOCUSING THE ENERGY INTO THE SURFACE OF THE S OLID

The kinds of cavitation are usually classified depending on the hydraulic

F IGURE 4.- C AVITATING

Another important type of cavitation occurs in marine propellers. There is also

When studying cavitation in Venturi tubes, it is necessary to describe the

As far as is known, cavitation requires a big pressure drop, but it is also

It is important to remark that a reduction in the amount of cavitation does not

It is a fluid in which the velocity gradient is directly proportional to the shear

FLAT PLATES SEPAR ATED BY A LAYER OF F LUID

FLUIDS UNDE R SHEAR STRESS AND T HEIR BEHAVIOR

It is a polymeric product which is either a viscous liquid or a wax-like

Cavitation is the most intense source of noise in fluid machinery and

Before any discussion of cavitation noise, it is useful to identify the natural

Where () is the pressure within the bubble, assumed to be uniform, () is

The results of this equation for bubbles in water at a temperature of 27 C for

This critical nucleus can be obtained from the equation:

Cpmin is the minimum pressure coefficient

F IGURE 10. - I NDIVIDUAL

BUBBLE NOISE SPECTRUM

F IGURE 11. - A XIAL

FLOW PUMP NOISE SPECTRUM

The development of cavitation noise can be understood by studying the scaling

The evaluation of the impulse is completed by some estimate of the maximum

F IGURE 12. - S OUND

PRESSURE PRODUCED BY AN INDIVIDUAL BUBBLE

F IGURE 13. - A COUSTIC

SPECTRUM FOR CAVITATION IN WATER

The presence of these single lines in the measurement is related to nonlinear

Measuring sound underwater is quite different from measuring airborne sound.

F IGURE 14. - S ECTION

OF A USUAL CE RAMIC TRANSDUCER

The typical transducer used to measure underwater noise is a hydrophone.

19 Setup and equipment

3. S ETUP AND EQUIPMENT

The installation used to measure noise is shown in the picture below.