SEDL / STP / STP705-EB / STP29226S

Cavitation Corrosion

Oakes, BD
Research Specialist, Dow Chemical U.S.A., Texas Division, Freeport, Tex.

Pages: 11    Published: Jan 1980

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Abstract

Cavitation corrosion of wet-sleeve diesel engine cylinder liners has assumed increased importance in recent years due to design changes intended primarily to extract more power per unit of fuel consumed. As the piston moves up and down within the liner, the liner wall moves slightly to initiate the cavitation phenomenon. Vacuum cavities form next to the liner on the coolant side. As the liquid collapses to fill these cavities, damage is done with the end result as a line of pits on the coolant side of the liner wall. In this study, using a vibratory cavitation erosion test, at atmospheric and slightly elevated pressures, propylene glycol (PG) and methoxypropanol (MP) based coolants are shown to provide consistently more resistance to cavitation corrosion of cast iron than ethylene glycol (EG) based coolants. At slightly elevated pressures MP coolants may be superior to PG coolants.