How is Cavitation is Good for Ultrasonic Cleaning?

Ultrasonic cleaning involves the use of ultrasonic waves to induce cavitation in a cleaning solution. Cavitation disrupts surface impurities and buildup on objects submerged in the cleaning solution. At the end of the cleaning cycle, objects will emerge from the solution as clean parts.

But how does cavitation really work? Specifically cavitation is the formation and subsequent implosion of bubbles caused by the introduction of ultrasound into a cleaning solution. Cavitation itself does not cause the submerged products in the ultrasonic cleaning solution to become clean; rather it is the result, the induced shock waves. The shock waves caused by the creation and implosion of bubbles in an ultrasonic cleaning solution disrupt the surface impurities on products, causing them to become dislodged from those surfaces.

Cavitation also causes cyclic stress on an object and in ultrasonic cleaning, cavitation will occur to the object(s) being cleaned in the ultrasonic cleaner. The formation of the bubble can be described as a pulling stress, and the implosion of the bubble can be described as a pushing stress. This pushing and pulling action is referred to as cyclic stress. There are both positive and negative aspects to the cyclic stress. On one hand, cyclic stress will dislodge containments from the objectâ³ surface and on the other hand can also damage equipment parts, such as propellers and turbines. In these cases cavitation is seen in a negative light, but in controlled conditions, such as in an ultrasonic cleaner, cavitation can be used for constructive purposes.