Cavitation erosion in liquid nitrogen

Dular, Matevž (author), Petkovšek, Martin (author)

Thermodynamic effects in cavitation become significant only when the critical-point temperature is close to the operating temperature of the fluid, as in the case of cryogenic fluids. Therefore, the understanding and the prediction of the cavitation effects in such cases is crucial in many applications - for example the turbopumps for liquid hydrogen (LH2) and oxygen (LOX) in space launcher engines. The new generation of rocket engines will also feature the possibility of re-ignition while in orbit and prolonged period of operation; hence cavitation erosion is becoming an issue at the design stage of the turbo-pumps. In the study, we show measurements of cavitation erosion in liquid nitrogen (LN2), where cavitation was generated by an ultrasonic transducer. The damage was evaluated on aluminium samples. Special care was given to accurate setting of the operation point - especially the operating pressure, which defines the size of cavitation. We show that it is less aggressive than cavitation in water and that its aggressiveness cannot be described by a single fluid property (for example the most commonly used Brennen's thermodynamic parameter Σ), but by a combination of several (viscosity, density, vapor pressure, surface tension, thermodynamic parameter) - in the present paper we addressed this point by a simple bubble dynamics model with consideration of the thermodynamic effect to qualitatively predict the results of the measurements. Finally, we also compared performance of several other engineering materials.

• Language: English
• Keywords: cavitation, erosion, liquid nitrogen, thermodynamic effect
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Organization: FS - Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Author Accepted Manuscript
• Year: 2018
• Number of pages: Str. 111-118
• Numbering: Vol. 400-401
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-126440
• UDC: 620.193.16(045)
• ISSN on article: 0043-1648
• DOI: 10.1016/j.wear.2018.01.003
• COBISS.SI-ID: 15832859

Copyright

Zapis Sherpa Romeo za revijo Wear https://v2.sherpa.ac.uk/id/publication/17170 : licenca za recenzirani rokopis (Accepted Version) je CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. (Datum opombe: 15. 3. 2023)

• Publication date in RUL: 22.04.2021

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Wear
• Shortened title: Wear
• Publisher: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0043-1648
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5374213

Licences

• License: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• Description: The most restrictive Creative Commons license. This only allows people to download and share the work for no commercial gain and for no other purposes.
• Licensing start date: 15.04.2018

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: kavitacija, erozija, tekoči dušik, termodinamični vpliv

Projects

• Funder: Other - Other funder or multiple funders
• Funding programme: European Space Agency (ESA)
• Project number: E4000111924/14/NL/NDeSTEC
• Name: Cavitation and cavitation erosion in cryogenic fluids