Temperature effect on the impact of a liquid-jet against a rigid boundary

An experimental study concerning the influence of liquid temperature on the collapse of cavitation bubble near a rigid boundary is presented. The impact loading induced by high-speed liquid-jet during the final stage of the bubble collapse in distilled water at different temperatures is investigated by focusing a Q-switched laser pulse. In addition, based on the modified Rayleigh theory, some characteristic parameters, such as the maximum bubble radius, and liquid-jet impact pressure, are also obtained as a function of temperature. The results show that liquid-jet impact pressure increases with liquid temperature and reaches a peak, followed by a decrease. The increase is due to the change in physical properties of distilled water, and the decrease is due to the thermodynamic effect of a bubble collapse and the change of material mechanical properties in high temperature. The peak appears at the approximate average of freezing and boiling temperatures. The mechanism of liquid temperature influence on cavitation erosion also has been discussed. (C) 2012 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.