In the blog Cavitation 101, cavitation in liquids was described as the backbone of ultrasonic cleaning. Cavitation by itself, however, is not the end of the story. Although cavitation is the backbone, the real work is accomplished by the implosion of cavitation bubbles. Cavitation bubbles are, in essence, pockets of vacuum or vapor of the surrounding … Continued
Cavitation of liquid due to high amplitude ultrasonic vibration within the liquid is the backbone of ultrasonic cleaning. Liquids have the unique ability to cavitate. In order to cavitate, a material must exhibit three properties – It must be relatively inextensible and uncompressible. It can’t be able to stretch or expand or be compressed to significantly change … Continued
Today, the vast majority of transducers used for ultrasonic cleaning applications utilize the “piezoelectric” effect to transform electrical energy to mechanical motion. These devices are sometimes called “piezos” because they are driven by piezoelectric elements which are integral to the transducer. Piezoelectricity was discovered by Maria and Pierre Curie who also experimented with radioactivity and … Continued
At the heart of any ultrasonic transducer is a means to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. The use of piezoelectric materials to do this was discussed in a previous blog. Today’s blog will describe how magnetostrictive materials can also be used to convert electrical energy into mechanical energy. Ultrasonic transducers using magnetostriction as a source of … Continued
The piezoelectric and magnetostrictive effects which drive ultrasonic transducers are capable of creating considerable force but only minimal displacement. In order to produce sound waves of sufficient amplitude (displacement) to cause cavitation in a liquid, some means must be used to increase the displacement produced by the primary piezoelectric or magnetostrictive effect. In both cases, the key to doing … Continued
In an ultrasonic cleaning system, the device that provides the electrical energy to power the ultrasonic transducers is known as the ultrasonic “generator.” Basically, the ultrasonic generator converts electrical energy received from the power line into electrical energy with the proper frequency, voltage and amperage to power or “drive” the ultrasonic transducers. In most cases, … Continued
Preceding blogs have described the workings and principles of ultrasonic transducers. Today’s blog will summarize the information on piezoelectric ultrasonic transducers and give readers a view of what the real hardware looks like. An upcoming blog will concentrate on magnetostrictive hardware. Piezoelectric Transducers – Piezoelectric transducers, which may also be called electrostrictive transducers, nearly all … Continued
Today’s ultrasonic transducers utilize either the piezoelectric or magnetostrictive effect of materials to produce ultrasonic waves in liquids. This blog will concentrate on the magnetostrictive ultrasonic transducer. Magnetostrictive Transducers – Magnetostrictive ultrasonic transducers utilize the principle of magnetostriction exhibited by “ferromagnetic” materials which include iron, nickel and cobalt as well as many alloys of these … Continued
We all know, basically, what rust is and what causes it. What many don’t know, however, is that rust is unique in its properties. Knowing how to deal with and/or prevent rust is very important in many cleaning applications. The above picture is actually worthy of hanging on a wall as art. In fact, I … Continued
In the blogs about transducers I made a point of telling readers that an ultrasonic transducer must be driven at its resonant frequency to achieve optimum performance. What I didn’t address, however, was the fact that the resonant characteristics of a transducer can be varied by its design. Not only the resonant frequency but the “sharpness” or “Q” … Continued
