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Fundamentals of Cavitation

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Cavitation in Biomedicine

Abstract

Cavitation is defined as the formation of one or more cavities in a liquid. The word “formation” can refer, in a general sense, to both the creation of a new cavity and the expansion of a preexisting gas pocket to a size where macroscopic effects, e.g., its shape and size, acoustic emissions, sonoluminescence, and erosive properties, can be observed. The cavity’s gas content refers to the liquid’s vapor, gas dissolved in the liquid, or combinations thereof. Cavitation usually occurs as a response when the pressure has been reduced sufficiently below the vapor pressure of the liquid or when the temperature has been elevated above the boiling point. In addition, chemical-, electrical-, and radiation-induced cavitation also exists. This book only considers the first case of cavity formation—that associated with a drop in pressure or a rise in temperature—in response to an acoustic field.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, 710049, P.R. China

    Shanshan Xu, Yangzi Qiao, Xiaodong Liu & Mingxi Wan

  2. Department of Physics, University of Mississippi, National Center for Physical Acoustics, 1 Coliseum Drive, University, Oxford, 38677, Mississippi

    Charles C. Church

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  1. Shanshan Xu
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  2. Yangzi Qiao
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  3. Xiaodong Liu
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  4. Charles C. Church
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  5. Mingxi Wan
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Correspondence to Mingxi Wan .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China

    Mingxi Wan

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China

    Yi Feng

  3. Joint Department of Physics, Division of Radiotherapy & Imaging, The Institute of Cancer Research, Surry, United Kingdom

    Gail ter Haar

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Xu, S., Qiao, Y., Liu, X., Church, C.C., Wan, M. (2015). Fundamentals of Cavitation. In: Wan, M., Feng, Y., Haar, G. (eds) Cavitation in Biomedicine. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-7255-6_1

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