Cavitation erosion due to impingement of a cavitating jet was experimentally studied with specimens of an aluminumalloy in high-water base fluids (HWBF) of a chemical solution and emulsion type, tap water and mineral oil. Furthermore, the eroded surfaces of the specimens were examined by using scanning electron microscope (SEM). The behaviors of cavitating jet were observed through instantaneous photographs. The instantaneous photographs were used to obtain the probability distribution of cavity-clouds existence.
Main specific points of interest are as follows:
(1) For the same flow conditions, mass losses due to cavitation erosion in HWBFs and tap water are much larger than those in mineral oil, especially in HWBF of the chemical solution type.
(2) The microscopic topographies of eroded surfaces in various types of liquids present a considerable difference.
(3) The variation of mass loss with the stand-off distance is closely related to the probability distribution of cavity-clouds existence.
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