What is cavitation?
When objects move quickly in a liquid - such as a ship's propeller in water - the existing pressure fluctuations create so-called ‘vapour bubbles’. When these vapour bubbles condense, this triggers impulses that lead to extreme pressure and temperature peaks. The resulting pressure waves are ultimately a major source of underwater noise, which has been proven to be harmful to marine animals (source: Umweltbundesamt). As if that wasn't bad enough, cavitation also causes mechanical damage to the ship's propellers. Cavitation corrosion weakens the surface of the propeller, which can cause parts of the material to break off in the long term. This reduces the longevity of a ship's propeller many times over and therefore represents a not inconsiderable cost factor.
Measurement technology to reduce cavitation
The aim should therefore be to prevent cavitation as far as possible. When developing ship propellers, measurement technology can be used to measure the above-mentioned pressure and temperature peaks. This data can be used to draw conclusions, which in turn can result in adjustments to the material and design of the propeller in order to minimise the effects of cavitation.
The acquisition of such measurement data requires high-precision measuring devices that can work reliably in such demanding environments without distorting the incoming measurement data. The LTT24 measuring device is the perfect solution for such applications, as the precision of its data acquisition is unrivalled worldwide.
Click here to find out more about cavitation and the resulting noise damage.
