Ultrasonic Cleaning

What is ultrasonic cleaning?

The process of removing contaminants from substances that are immersed in liquid using high frequency sound waves are known are ultrasonic cleaning. These inaudible waves will create scrubbing action and removes contaminants from the substance that is in contact with fluid.

Its ability to penetrate and clean surfaces like blind holes, thread roots, small electronic parts, wires etc. using sound conducting liquid makes it unique.

Working :

Sound waves are introduced into the liquid by means of transducers which are mounted onto the cleaning tank. The waves can be compression wave or expansion wave. The molecules of the cleaning liquid will be tightly compressed together in compression wave while in expansion wave, these molecules are pulled apart, creating microscopic bubbles (cavity). These bubbles exit only for a split of second and cannot be seen using naked eyes. The formation of these bubbles are known as cavitation. These bubbles collapse due to increase in pressure around it. This produces huge amount of vacuum energy in the form of heat and pressure and cause a rise in temperature upto 5000˚C. This high temperature combined with the velocity of liquid helps in cleaning more intricate parts. As the buble expansion and collapse cycle takes place in a short span of time, the surrounding liquid will absorb the heat and cools the area rapidly. So the tank and liquid will only gets warm, it does not heat excessively.

Few examples of application of ultrasonic cleaning:

•        Lenses
•        Cathode ray tube components ( picture tube components of TV)
•       Quartz crystals
•        Aircraft components, brakes, machine parts.
•      Surgical instruments

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