Cavitation Phenomena in Non-Newtonian Liquids

Although several extensive reviews have addressed general aspects of cavitation phenomena in Newtonian fluids, far less work has been reported for non-Newtonian fluids. Recent research in this area has benefitted from studies of non-linear acoustics and modern optical techniques and these have led to major advances in the understanding of cavitation bubble dynamics in non-Newtonian fluids—particularly viscoelastic fluids. The salient features of those advances are discussed herein, along with an assessment of the role of non-Newtonian fluid rheology on the cavitation threshold stress, as measured by various techniques.