The role of stabilized gas nuclei in hydrodynamic cavitation inception

Experiments on the initiation of cavitation in denucleated liquids in a tension manometer are described. It was found that gas nuclei, probably stabilized by the hydrophobic crevice mechanism postulated by Harvey, exist in water but in none of the organic liquids tested. Consequently it appears that stabilized gas nuclei cannot play an essential part in hydrodynamic cavitation, which can readily occur through the generation of nuclei ab initio by certain forms of mechanical action operating through some molecular mechanism which is not yet understood.