Cavitation

A natural phenomenon at 500°C and 500 bar pressures!

Ultrasonic cleaning is the most modern cleaning method today. The special advantages are highest cleanliness of the parts to be cleaned in shortest time, without manual additional work and without damage of the cleaning material.

The thorough cleaning effect of MediSonics ultrasonic systems cannot be achieved by conventional methods. Even stubborn dirt in bores and cavities is removed in seconds during treatment with ultrasound The active principle of ultrasonic cleaning is cavitation. Cavitation is the formation and dissolution of cavities in liquids due to pressure fluctuations.

Soft cavitation is undesirable in ultrasonic cleaning, so the liquid is often degassed with a special degassing program of the ultrasonic system before the cleaning process. The electrical energy thus obtained is fed to the transducer via a shielded line. The transducer converts this electrical energy into mechanical sound vibrations.

These sound vibrations alternately create an overpressure and a vacuum phase in the liquid. This causes the physical effect of cavitation. Multiple enlarged cavitation bubble at a frequency of approx. 25 kHz at the time of implosion. At an ultrasonic frequency of, for example, 25 kHz, temperatures of over 5000°C (conditions similar to those on the surface of the sun) and pressures of up to 500 bar are generated for a short time.

These high temperatures and pressures can destroy fragile structures or kill the smallest bacteria. Around the cavitation bubbles, the bang-like implosion creates high local pressures, as well as strong turbulence and currents (jets) in the liquid. These phenomena are the actual criteria that lead to the detachment of dirt particles on a substrate surface.