Limiting tensile strength of liquid nitrogen

Abstract

The method of pulsed liquid superheating in a tension wave that forms when a compression pulse is reflected from the liquid free surface has been used to investigate the kinetics of spontaneous cavitation in liquid nitrogen. The limiting tensile stress pn of nitrogen corresponding to nucleation rates J = 1020 − 1022 s−1 m−3 and the slope of the temperature dependence of the nucleation rate GT = dlnJ/dT have been determined by experiment. The results of experiments are compared with classical nucleation theory (CNT) and a modified classical nucleation theory (MCNT), which takes into account the size dependence of the properties of a critical bubble. It has been noted that experimental data are in better agreement with the results of MCNT than with those of CNT.

A capillary-induced negative pressure is able to initiate heterogeneous cavitation

“…1–17 After the negative pressure exerted on the liquid falls below the negative pressure that is determined by the tensile strength of the liquid and the given temperature, small vapor-filled cavities are created in the liquid and then cavitation occurs. 18–23 Nucleation 24–28 can be classified into distinct pathways: homogeneous nucleation 24–26 and heterogeneous nucleation. 27,28…”

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] After the negative pressure exerted on the liquid falls below the negative pressure that is determined by the tensile strength of the liquid and the given temperature, small vapor-filled cavities are created in the liquid and then cavitation occurs. [18][19][20][21][22][23] Nucleation [24][25][26][27][28] can be classified into distinct pathways: homogeneous nucleation [24][25][26] and heterogeneous nucleation. 27,28 Cavitation has a strong impact on a wide variety of engineering and natural systems and can be abundantly observed in both macroscale and microscale.…”