Pump Cavitation Test Case
KKSTEST-PUMP-001
StatusConfirmed
Failure Modes: Cavitation
Symptoms: High Vibration
Failure
- Primary Symptom
- High Vibration
- Failure Description
- Pump developed abnormal noise and increased vibration during operation at elevated flow.
- Failure Mechanism
- Local pressure at the impeller inlet decreased sufficiently to promote vapor bubble formation and subsequent collapse in higher-pressure regions.
Evidence
- Visual Findings
- No internal inspection was performed for this test record.
- Vibration Findings
- Increased broadband vibration was observed during the affected operating condition.
- Process Findings
- Symptoms became more pronounced as operating flow increased.
Diagnosis and Root Cause
- Probable Causes
- Restricted suction conditions, insufficient NPSH margin, elevated flow operation, or suction-side pressure loss.
- Confirmed Root Cause
- Insufficient NPSH margin — TEST CASE ONLY.
- Root Cause Evidence
- Test diagnosis created solely to validate the UptimeLibrary Failure Case workflow.
- Diagnostic Steps
- Verify suction pressure, flow, fluid temperature, suction restrictions and NPSH margin before confirming cavitation.
- Confidence Level
- 85
Root Causes: Insufficient NPSH
Actions
- Immediate Action
- Verify pump operating point and suction conditions.
- Corrective Action
- Inspect the suction system and restore the pump to the approved operating envelope.
- Preventive Action
- Trend suction pressure, flow and vibration and maintain adequate NPSH margin.
- Verification Method
- Confirm stable suction conditions and reduction in abnormal vibration/noise.
- Lessons Learned
- Cavitation should not be diagnosed from noise or vibration alone; hydraulic operating data must also be evaluated.
Reliability
- Downtime Hours
- 2
- Repair Hours
- 1
- Repeat Failure
- No