Experimental determination of cavitation thresholds in liquid water and mercury

Journal Article · Tue Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1998 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:644293

Taleyarkhan, R P; Gulec, K; West, C D; Haines, J ^[1]

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1. Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States)

It is well-known that fluids (like solids) will break apart or form voids when put under sufficient tension. The present study has been motivated by the need to evaluate the impact of fluid cavitation in spallation neutron source target systems, more specifically for the proposed 1-MW Spallation Neutron Source (SNS) project, which is being designed in collaboration between Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Los Alamos National Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Argonne National Laboratory. Indeed, results of SNS-specific simulations have indicated that the onset of cavitation could play a very significant role in reducing imposed stresses in structural components of the SNS. In general, the cavitation of fluids is target systems is important to consider for a variety of reasons. Its occurrence can have significant impact on heat transfer, pressure pulse generation, fluid jetting on to structures, surface erosion, stresses induced in enclosures, etc. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the threshold pressure under which the fluid in tension will undergo cavitation. Another major aspect concerns the possible onset of cavitation in an oscillating pressure field; i.e., one would need to know if fluids such as mercury and water will cavitate if the imposed tensile pressure in the fluid is of short duration. If indeed it takes sufficiently long for cavitation bubbles to nucleate, then it would be possible to disregard the complexities involved with addressing cavitation-related issues. This paper provides an overview of preliminary work done to date to derive information on cavitation onset in a relatively static and in a high-frequency environment.

• OSTI ID: 644293
• Report Number(s): CONF-980606--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 78; ISSN TANSAO; ISSN 0003-018X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES
43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS
ACCELERATOR FACILITIES
CAVITATION
MERCURY
NEUTRON SOURCES
PRESSURE DEPENDENCE
TARGETS
WATER