Pressurized fluid systems, such as, for example, fuel injectors and pumps, are frequently susceptible to the phenomenon known as “cavitation.” As known to those having ordinary skill in the art, cavitation generally refers to the formation of vapor bubbles within a fluid stream when, for example, the fluid's operational pressure drops below the fluid's vapor pressure. For example, cavitation can occur in flowing liquid when the speed or velocity of the liquid increases such that the pressure in the system drops below the vapor pressure of the liquid, resulting in local vaporization of the liquid, which in turn creates a cavity (i.e., hole) or void within the flowing liquid. This low-pressure cavity generally comprises a swirling mass of liquid droplets and vapor bubbles and, although appearing steady to the naked eye, actually forms and reforms many times a second.
Once formed, the low-pressure cavity is generally swept swiftly downstream into a region of high pressure, such as, for example, an eddy zone, where it suddenly collapses as surrounding liquid rushes in to fill the void. As the cavity is collapsing, each and every vapor bubble within the cavity implodes, releasing a momentary burst of concentrated energy. In instances where a cavity's point of collapse is in contact with a boundary wall, such as, for example, the material surface of a hydrodynamic component, the concentrated energy released from each bubble implosion locally stresses the wall surface beyond its elastic limit, and, given sufficient time, causes erosion of wall material. This is known to those of ordinary skill in the art as cavitation damage.
Cavitation damage can be extremely problematic to the performance of hydrodynamic components and, in some instances, may lead to material failure. In addition, cavitation damage can often result in equipment downtime, as well as warranty exposure and negative commercial effects for the equipment's manufacturer.
Previously, hydrodynamic equipment designs were tested and analyzed iteratively. Variables were tested one at a time and determined either through experience or engineered guesses. Design solutions were not tested over multiple variables, and further, many hundred man-hours of resources were expended. Even when experiments were designed to include multiple variables, cavitation damage still remained unpredictable and, consequently, difficult to analyze. This inability to accurately predict and analyze the occurrence of cavitation damage prohibited the ability to appropriately design hydrodynamic components in a manner that compensates for problems associated with cavitation damage, such as, for example, material failure.
Recently, however, assessment and prediction of cavitation damage in components, such as, for example, pumps, turbines, valves, fuel injectors, and propellers, has been addressed in the art by utilizing a sensor to detect and measure structure-borne noise and the vibration of the outer wall of the component through which fluid flows, in order to use numerical calculations to predict erosion rates. For instance, the use of such a sensor is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,332,356 issued to Gülich on Jul. 26, 1994. Although the use of such sensors appears viable in large components, the small size and complicated construction of some hydrodynamic components, such as, for example, fuel injector nozzles, prohibits the use of intricate sensing devices and associated equipment. In addition, the above-described Gülich methodology still requires constructing at least a functioning model of the component in which the occurrence of cavitation damage is to be predicted. Providing a method to accurately predict cavitation damage in hydrodynamic components, while avoiding the need to construct functioning models of those components, has therefore been problematic and elusive.
The present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.