Cavitation Effect

Cavitation is the formation of vapour cavities in a

liquid, usually occuring due to a change in pressure,

often causing wear. Cavitation can, however, crop up

anywhere that a foil or blade is used in a liquid, such

as on the tyres of a motorbike, for example. Here’s

a simple look at how it happens.

The sand tyre on the

Suzuki could suffer

from a kind of cavitation

when the ridges that

are to behave like

paddles in the water

create high pressure in

front of them as they

are pushed through

the water, and a low

pressure ‘slipstream’

area immediately

behind them.