Features of cavitation and cavitation erosion of waveguides of powerful ultrasonic units at higher-than-average pressure of the media

The features of the acoustic effects of cavitation created by the rod waveguides of powerful ultrasonic magnetostriction units in different liquid media at a pressure to 5 MPa have been investigated. It has been established that, under the conditions of maximum acoustical activity of cavitation realized at the medium's higher-than-average pressure, the erosion damage to the waveguides is of an unusual structurized character and develops from the central part of the end to its periphery. A result of the erosion damage may be the total loss of operating capacity by the waveguides manufactured from the most erosion-resistant materials (stainless steel and titanium alloys) even after a few hours of tests. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 81, No. 4, pp. 690–696, July–August, 2008.