Bubble Structures Between Two Walls in Ultrasonic Cavitation Erosion

Abstract

The cavitation bubble structures for the stationary specimen method were clarified for various distances, h, between the stationary specimen and the horn-tip surface. The generated cavitation bubbles constituted a huge number of tiny bubbles and bubble clusters of different sizes. The maximum cluster size was 1.4 mm. The observed cavitation patterns systematically changed during tests from the subcavitating state to the supercavitating state with respect to the separation distance, h. For h <4 mm, the bubbles have a definite trajectory, and the pressure patterns manifest a circular shape as a result of streaming induced by ultrasonic cavitation. The feature morphology of the eroded surfaces revealed that the predominant failure mode was fatigue. In the light of the material failure features and the cavitation patterns, it is also deduced that the important mechanism to transfer the cavitation energy to the solid is shock pressures accompanied by collapsing clusters.