Cavitation tests

We'll find the cause.

Under certain conditions, the pressure in the fluid being pumped can drop below its vapour pressure in the pump inlet (vane leading edge or inlet to the impeller passage). Vapour bubbles develop and then implode again when the pressure rises. This phenomenon, called cavitation, has negative effects on the pump behaviour, for example a reduction in developed head and efficiency, noise, vibration and material erosion.

Fig. 1 shows cavitation bubble formation on the impeller vane suction side near the leading edge observed with a stroboscope through a Plexiglas window in the suction pipe.



	Fig. 1

Fig. 2 shows the damage (in the same location as for Fig. 1), i.e. material erosion which can occur in the cavitation zone.



	Fig. 2

Usually extensive cavitation tests on appropriate test rigs are necessary since these phenomena and their effects often cannot be adequately analysed by theoretical treatment. The tests are mostly carried out on models and prototypes to optimise our pumps or develop new designs. The results are scaled using the affinity laws to full scale machines. Acceptance testing also often includes cavitation tests on full scale original or customer pumps.




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