Preventing the ingestion of free-surface or entrained air to avoid cavitation and performance drops. Key Design Criteria & Limits
Though the 2018 edition acknowledges CFD, the standard is historically rooted in physical scale-model testing. Novice users may not realize that poorly executed CFD is worse than no analysis. The standard lacks prescriptive best practices for mesh quality, turbulence models, and validation.
Later, in the control room, Mara reviewed the NPSH curve against pump performance. The margin was comfortable—enough to weather seasonal fluctuations and a bit of headroom for unexpected sedimentation. She thought of the cavitation reports that had ended careers and budgets; here, compliance with ANSI/HI 9.8 acted as a shield, not a bureaucratic rite but a practical manual for resilience.
