HYDRAULIC CAVITATION FROM A SONOMATERIALS SCIENCE PERSPECTIVE: A REVIEW

Cavitation is the dynamic process of gas cavity growth and collapse in a liquid. These cavities are due to the presence of dissolved gases or volatile liquids and they are formed at the point where the pressure is less than the saturation pressure of the gas (gaseous cavitation) or vapor pressure (vaporous cavitation). In this paper, an overview of fluid properties affecting the cavitation process and bubble collapse mechanism will be discussed. This discussion will provide an overview of the cavitation process including the most recent mechanistic studies which have measured the bubble collapse temperatures and sonoluminesence mechanism. Sonochemical processes which may be induced by the cavitation process will be summarized as well as recent sonochemical-induced tribological reactions from a material science perspective.