Description

Propeller cavitation is the destructive force of implosive bubbles created by the spinning of a ship's propeller in water. The speed of the outer ends of the propeller causes high pressure differentials and boils the surrounding water. Edgerton's high-speed flash allowed analysis of the formation of the bubbles and aided in the redesign of the propeller to minimize the damage it causes to itself. As the potential of the strobe was increasingly understood, Edgerton's services were often requested by engineers and industrialists interested in studying fast-moving phenomena. (from "Stopping Time" (1987), p. 58.) (CC)