Mitigating cavitation erosion using biomimetic gas-entrapping microtextured surfaces (GEMS)

Cavitation refers to the formation and collapse of vapor bubbles near solid boundaries in high-speed flows, such as ship propellers and pumps. During this process, cavitation bubbles focus fluid energy on the solid surface by forming high-speed jets, leading to damage and downtime of machinery. In r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science advances 2020-03, Vol.6 (13), p.eaax6192-eaax6192
Main Authors: Gonzalez-Avila, Silvestre Roberto, Nguyen, Dang Minh, Arunachalam, Sankara, Domingues, Eddy M, Mishra, Himanshu, Ohl, Claus-Dieter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied Physics
Environmental Studies
SciAdv r-articles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cavitation refers to the formation and collapse of vapor bubbles near solid boundaries in high-speed flows, such as ship propellers and pumps. During this process, cavitation bubbles focus fluid energy on the solid surface by forming high-speed jets, leading to damage and downtime of machinery. In response, numerous surface treatments to counteract this effect have been explored, including perfluorinated coatings and surface hardening, but they all succumb to cavitation erosion eventually. Here, we report on biomimetic gas-entrapping microtextured surfaces (GEMS) that robustly entrap air when immersed in water regardless of the wetting nature of the substrate. Crucially, the entrapment of air inside the cavities repels cavitation bubbles away from the surface, thereby preventing cavitation damage. We provide mechanistic insights by treating the system as a potential flow problem of a multi-bubble system. Our findings present a possible avenue for mitigating cavitation erosion through the application of inexpensive and environmentally friendly materials.
ISSN:2375-2548
2375-2548
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.aax6192