Tensile Strength of Water Exposed to Pressure Pulses

It is well known that pressurization for an extended period of time increases the tensile strength of water, but little information is available on the effect of pressure pulses of short duration. This is addressed in the present paper where we first measure the tensile strength of water at an extended water-solid interface by imposing a tensile stress pulse which easily causes cavitation. Next, a compressive pulse of duration ~1 ms and a peak intensity of a few bar is imposed prior to the tensile stress pulse. A dramatic increase of the tensile strength is observed immediately after the compressive pulse, but the effect is shortlived. We presume that diffusion of non-condensable gas from the cavitation nuclei into the liquid at compression, and back again later, is responsible for the changes of tensile strength.