Cavitation erosion research in France: the state of the art

An important part of the French research program on cavitation erosion, conducted from 1980 to 1995, was devoted to pitting. Histograms of pit size have been extensively used to characterise the hydrodynamic aggressiveness of a cavitating flow. Numerous erosion tests, limited to the incubation period, were carried out on similar test sections, for different velocities, liquids, length scales, and materials. Scaling laws were discussed and two kinds of methods for prediction of the erosion rate were proposed. The first one is based upon the estimation of the aggressiveness of the prototype cavitating flow, from pitting tests on a model and the simulation of the prototype histogram of pits on an appropriate device. The second one is based upon a correlation between the advanced stage of erosion and the incubation period, consisting of a proper adimensionalization of the mass-loss curve. After several years of research and the development of special facilities, devices and techniques, more deterministic procedures for predicting cavitation erosion could now be developed, based not upon erosion tests, but upon the characterization of the aggressiveness of the cavitating flow in terms of impact loads and the analysis of the mechanical and metallurgical response of the material to successive impacts.