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Originally Posted by myv65
As Ben noted, if there's any air in that reservoir, it's too small to avoid it getting sucked into the pump inlet. Sure, adding a restriction and reducing flow will probably eliminate the problem because the velocity through the reservoir will slow. This is not the same as cavitation, either. Cavitation is lowering the pressure of the fluid so much that some of it vaporizes. These "bubbles" tend to implode as they get to the higher pressure present near the pump outlet. This effect can literally eat away impellers (even the metal ones in industrial pumps). The pressure is lowered at the inlet as a combination of vacuum and fluid velocity. High velocity equals low static pressure (same idea that keeps planes in the air).
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Ahhhh, and I almost made it through the whole day without learning something. This is interesting info. I have often heard of the collapse that takes place as being somewhat similar to what happens when a Sonic Boom collapses. Good info to have. I actually have an impeller from the USS Intrepid that was chewed up by cavitation. It now serves as a really sharp cup holder!
OK I know this is a bit off topic, but this is the impeller I was talking about. It was sandblasted and then I painted it with copper paint. I find it interesting as in the original state this thing was a solid plate (no blades). just a flat disk. Whats left is what looks like something that had blades like a prop. Now it is a very heavy throwing star/cup holder!
In short: Cavitation Bad