A technique is described in which materials are exposed to cavitation in an intermittent, periodic manner by applying pulsed excitation of a magnetostrictive transducer. Such pulsed cavitation is proposed as a means to overcome the extremely accelerated nature of the usual laboratory procedure for the study of cavitation damage properties of materials. Specimens under study are subjected to oscillating accelerations in the cavitating liquid, and the oscillation amplitude is modulated so that cavitating interval can be made any desired fraction of total period. Materials tested were mild steel, 4340 steel, Inconel X and 17-7 PH stain-less steel. All except mild steel were also tested in a hardened condition.
When pulsed and steady cavitation were compared in a chemically inert liquid (toluene) with an inert gas environment (helium), no significant difference in cavitation damage rate was observed. It was concluded that the pulsed cavitation technique provides a significant method for studying cavitation damage when proper consideration of the chemical nature of the environment is important. 2.3.7, 3.5.3
