Turbulence - just a phenomenon of cavitation?

[Loren Booda]

Turbulence -- just a phenomenon of cavitation?

Is turbulence exclusively cavitation of a fluid?

Please give me your insight on this idea.

 

[boneh3ad]

No. Turbulence is a completely separate phenomenon from cavitation. Turbulence has to do with tiny perturbations in a flow growing to the point where the flow becomes highly chaotic.

 

[Mech_Engineer]

Just to add in, cavitation has to do with fluids under high force (as in a boat's prop):

Cavitation is the formation and then immediate implosion of cavities in a liquid – i.e. small liquid-free zones ("bubbles") – that are the consequence of forces acting upon the liquid. It usually occurs when a liquid is subjected to rapid changes of pressure that cause the formation of cavities where the pressure is relatively low.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavitation

 

[Bobbywhy]

Additionally, cavitation can occur near the face of a high power sonar transducer (transmitter). When the acoustic intensity gets so high that the low-pressure of the wave is strong enough to rip the water apart, it creats tiny bubbles of dissolved gas. Cavitation is "bad" for a sonar system because it creates a huge impedance mismatch between the transducer and the water. Also the imploding bubbles can physically damage the transducer face.

One interesting sidelight: If the conditions are right the cavitation bubbles will emit a picosecond pulse of light, the color depends on the kinds of dissolved gasses. This is called "sonoluminesence".

 

[Studiot]

To emphasize what has already been said,

They are different and unrelated phenomena.
In particular you need a flowing fluid to exhibit turbulence, it cannot exist in a fluid with no average velocity.
Turbulence is a property of flow.

Cavitation, on the other hand can, and does, exist in a tank of standing fluid. It is not a property of flow.

edit:

Turbulence can, and does, occur in both liquids and gasses. It can either be a local or global property of the flow.

Cavitation occurs when the local input of energy to the fluid is sufficient to cause phase change from liquid to gas within the body of the fluid. As such it can only occur in liquids.


go well