The nucleation of cavities in a homogenous polymer under tensile strain is investigated in a coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation. In order to establish a causal relation between local microstructure and the onset of cavitation, a detailed analysis of some local properties is presented. In contrast to common assumptions, the nucleation of a cavity is neither correlated to a local loss o...

Cavitation damage in flexure bars crept at 1170°C was studied by a density measurement technique. The cavity density within the flexure beams could be approximated by a linear function of position from the tensile surface. A threshold stress for cavitation damage is suggested from the results of this study. Below the threshold tensile stress, cavitation ceases, whereas above the threshold, cavi...

Cavitation is an important problem in hydraulic machines that negatively affects their performance and may cause damages. Cavitation is a phenomenon which manifests itself in the pitting of the metallic surfaces of turbine parts because of the formation of cavities. In the present paper, a brief description of the general features of cavitation phenomenon is given and also discussed about the T...

The tip-clearance flow in axial turbomachines is studied using large-eddy simulation with particular emphasis on understanding the unsteady characteristics of the tip-leakage vortical structures and the underlying mechanisms for cavitation-inducing low-pressure fluctuations. Systematic and detailed analysis of the velocity and pressure fields has been made in a linear cascade with a moving end-...

Although cavitation and refilling cycles could be common in plants, it is unknown whether these cycles weaken the cavitation resistance of xylem. Stem or petiole segments were tested for cavitation resistance before and after a controlled cavitation-refilling cycle. Cavitation was induced by centrifugation, air drying of shoots, or soil drought. Except for droughted plants, material was not sig...

Laser-enhanced cavitation during high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) was studied in vivo using a small animal model. Laser light was employed to illuminate the sample concurrently with HIFU radiation. The resulting cavitation was detected with a passive cavitation detector. The in vivo measurements were made under different combinations of HIFU treatment depths, laser wavelengths, and HIFU...

A target tissue can be thermally coagulated in high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) treatment noninvasively. HIFU thermal treatments have been clinically applied to various solid tumors. One of the problems in HIFU treatments is a long treatment time. Acoustically driven microbubbles can accelerate the ultrasonic heating, resulting in the significant reduction of the treatment time. In this...

An ultrasonic dental descaling instrument has been characterised using sonochemical techniques. Mapping the emission from luminol solution revealed the distribution of cavitation produced in water around the tips. Hydroxyl radical production rates arising from water sonolysis were measured using terephthalate dosimetry and found to be in the range of mol min -1 , comparable with those from a s...

Xylem vulnerability to cavitation is a key parameter in the drought tolerance of trees, but little is known about the control mechanisms involved. Cavitation is thought to occur when an air bubble penetrates through a pit wall, and would hence be influenced by the wall's porosity. We first tested the role of wall-bound calcium in vulnerability to cavitation in Fagus sylvatica. Stems perfused wi...