Abstract
In modern, high performance hydraulic systems the transient behavior of dissolving, dissolved and nascent air under changing dynamic conditions of pressure and temperature is emerging as an increasingly important factor, capable of creating undesirable operating conditions. The paper discusses the question of how to predict the performance of pump inlets and valve discharges, where we have known for some time that cavitation and cavitation-like conditions exist and can cause significant damage. The steady state conditions at which nascent air evolves from saturated air-in-oil solutions is normally one or two orders of magnitude above the vapor pressure of the system fluid. To what extent, therefore, is “cavitation” in these systems an air-oil problem? Or is it an oil-vapor problem that is analogous to cavitation in water hydraulic pumps and turbines? Or have we created the combination of the two, a three-phase system of liquid, gas and vapor?
