Why is the tensile strength of water measured dynamically less than that measured statically?

Abstract
The tensile strength of water measured dynamically is less than that measured statically. It is claimed that this anomaly, which has been known for a long time, can be accounted for if one assumes that the transition layer at the free surface of a liquid contains a region for which the effective velocity of sound is very small. This region should be a source of cavitation nuclei, thus lowering the tensile strength. The hydrodynamics of reflection of pressure pulses by such a region are investigated and the imperfect reflection of pressure pulses by the free surface observed by Sedgewick and Trevena (1976) can be explained on the same hypothesis.

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