Lightweight Machine Learning Framework for Cavitation Detection in Submersible Pumps Using Experimental Multi-Sensor...

Cavitation is one of the major factors reducing the performance, efficiency, and service life of deep well submersible pumps used in agricultural irrigation systems. Therefore, the early detection of cavitation is essential for improving pump reliability and reducing maintenance costs. In this study, a machine learning-based framework is proposed to detect and classify cavitation conditions using experimental data collected from a deep well pump test unit. Hydraulic and operational parameters were measured under different operating conditions, while the measured noise level was used only to assign cavitation labels during dataset preparation. According to the measured noise level, the operating conditions were classified into three categories: Normal, Incipient Cavitation, and Severe Cavitation. Several machine learning algorithms were evaluated using stratified cross-validation and an independent test dataset. Model performance was assessed using Accuracy, Precision, Recall, and F1-score. The results showed that the Extra Tree classifier achieved the best performance with an accuracy of 82.4%. Feature importance analysis indicated that power consumption and submergence depth were the most influential parameters for cavitation detection. Unlike many existing studies that rely on computationally intensive models, the proposed framework employs a simple and lightweight machine learning approach while maintaining reliable prediction performance. Its low computational complexity makes it a promising candidate for future implementation on resource-constrained edge devices, enabling real-time cavitation monitoring in agricultural pumping systems.