With the availability of ultrasonic cleaning equipment operating at frequencies from 20kHz up to over 250kHz and the capability to use more than one frequency in a single piece of ultrasonic cleaning equipment, users inevitably and rightly question the optimum frequency or frequencies for their cleaning applications. The popular and most touted notion is that … Continued
Successful ultrasonic cleaning processes utilize a combination of mechanical action provided by the formation and implosion of cavitation bubbles and chemistry that dissolves and/or promotes the wetting and transfer of mechanical energy to dislodge the contaminants to be removed. The interactions and effects of chemistry on the ultrasonic process obviously exist but are not well … Continued
If you work around ultrasonic cleaning tanks you have probably heard a tank “squeal.” If you’ve never heard this, (1) consider yourself lucky and (2) be aware that a “squeal” is not the normal hissing sound associated with an operating ultrasonic tank but, rather, an extremely high amplitude sound at an audible frequency that can … Continued
The physical laws of liquids are a little complex yet a general understanding of them is important to understanding the mechanics of cleaning chemistry in the removal of both soluble and not-so-soluble contaminants from parts. The general concept was discussed in the blog Chemistry – Solvent Characteristics. This blog will take things a bit further. Question … Continued
Note – Before we start, there is a nomenclature conundrum when it comes to the term “ultrasonic transducer.” Through convention, transducer elements, the individual devices that produce ultrasonic vibrations (much like an individual radio speaker), are commonly called “transducers.” A number of transducer elements working in parallel constitute a transducer array but may be called … Continued
Ultrasonic cavitation and implosion provide a unique benefit in cleaning unmatched by other means. So much so that ultrasonic cleaning is often used as a benchmark to judge the effectiveness of other cleaning techniques. The major factors in cleaning are Time, Temperature, Chemistry and Mechanical Effect or Motion (TTCM). There are other acronyms for these … Continued
After God knows how many years of looking at that one image of a cavitation bubble presented endlessly with different color variations etc. to “freshen it up” there has emerged some exciting new footage of actual cavitation bubble implosion! Now, as a start, I don’t think these bubbles, at least the first ones, are the … Continued
One thing I should have learned over the years is to not speculate on the outcome of experimentation. In the previous blog, I advanced some theories on how liquid and air exchange might be enhanced in cleaning blind holes by using a carefully directed jet of water. Then it was off the fish tank to verify … Continued
In the blog “Reader Questions – Monitoring Ultrasonic Transducers,” I suggested a couple of ways one might test individual ultrasonic transducers to assure they have not become ineffective due to de-bonding from the cleaning tank. In an extension of the spirit of that blog, quality control measures for ultrasonic cleaning performance, I decided to check out a paper I … Continued
The Blackstone-NEY Robosonic system takes ultrasonic cleaning to a new level with precision cleaning and maximum efficiency in a robotic cleaning cell.
