Cavitation Inception in Immersed Jet Shear Flows

Cavitation inception occurring in immersed jets was investigated in a purpose-built mechanical flow rig. The rig utilized custom-built cylindrical and conical nozzles to direct high-velocity jets of variable concentration n-octane-hexadecane mixtures into a fused silica optically accessible receiver. The fluid pressure upstream and down-stream of the nozzles were manually controlled. The study employed a variety of acrylic and metal nozzles. The results show that the critical upstream pressure to downstream pressure ratio for incipient cavitation decreases with increasing n-octane concentration for the cylindrical nozzles, and increases with increasing n-octane concentration for the conical nozzle.