7. Current studies

The study of cavitation continues to mobilize the energies of many researchers, and the thousands of publications available cover all aspects of the phenomenon: molecular aspects, thermodynamics, hydrodynamics of flows with cavitation bubbles, mechanics, hydroacoustics, materials behavior, etc.

As far as pumps are concerned, today's efforts can be divided into three categories:

• fundamental studies: these cover a wide range of fields, from molecular physics to the study of the behavior of materials subjected to steam cavity implosion, including the study of the hydrodynamics of flows with steam pockets and bubbles. With regard to turbomachinery in particular, efforts are being made to calculate cavitation and predict its development on impeller blades. These calculation programs will be used either at the rotor design...