Theoretical analysis of engine coolant cavitation with different additives based on ultrasonic induced bubble dynamics

Publication date: December 2019Source: Results in Physics, Volume 15Author(s): Xiaoyu Wang, Zheng Zhang, Yu Chen, Yinglong LiAbstractCavitation, the process of formation and collapsing of vapor cavities is of great importance to material erosion degradation and enhanced physicochemical process by ultrasound. Commonly the ultrasonic cavitation bench test is utilized to study the cavitation correlate properties of different materials or coolants, which is time consuming and costly compared to numerical tests and lack of micro perspective analysis. Therefore, a mathematical model is needed to study cavitation bubble dynamics under different circumstances beforehand. Different types of ultrasonic waves are used to identify their ability to control bubble evolution and collapse intensity. Rectangular wave is found to be the most efficient to produce large radius and bubble wall speed compared with triangular and harmonic wave. As a potential mechanism to damage rigid wall, shock pressure is evaluated with variations of viscosity and surface tension. It is found that both decreased surface tension and increased viscosity can reduce shock pressure and thereby the cavitation potential, while viscosity shows less effect. Testing is achieved by comparing effects of typical coolants with different percentage of ethylene glycol (EG), propylene glycol (PG) and glycerin. PG is found to be the most efficient to suppress shock pressure followed by EG and glycerin the worst.

Source: Results in Physics - August 20, 2019 Category: Physics Source Type: research