Ultrasonic cleaning

Areas of application
Ultrasonic cleaning is used across the entire spectrum of industrial component manufacture, from maintenance, through reconditioning devices, right up to cleaning microscopically tiny structures, such as in PCB manufacture. Ultrasonic cleaning makes smooth procedures possible in the fields of metal working, electro-technology, PCB manufacture, the auto industry and in precision mechanics, to name just a few.

Some classic areas of application for ultrasonic cleaning include:

• Electro-technology / Electronics
• Precisionmechanics
• Optics
• Metal working
• PCB manufacture
• Ultrasonic products
  
  

How ultrasonic cleaning basically works

The versatility of ultrasonic technology really comes to the fore when processing and cleaning surfaces. The modular ultrasonic components made by Weber Ultrasonics allow the many millions of parts that get soiled every day in industrial manufacturing to be cleaned efficiently and in a manner that is kind to the environment.

Only with ultrasonics can the highest degree of cleaning be achieved in comparatively short cleaning times. The advantages of Weber Ultrasonics' ultrasonic components really show themselves on geometrically complex workpieces with thin boreholes or blind holes. The ultrasonic waves also penetrate inaccessible areas here, where conventional mechanical and manual cleaning processes, such as spray cleaning and brushing, fail.

Ultrasonic cleaning generally takes place in a liquid. This liquid contains cleaners specially designed for use with ultrasonic transducers (see figure).

The following applications are possible:

• Base
• Side emission (one or both sides)
• Base and side

Positioning the ultrasonics transducers

When subjected to ultrasonics, the cleaning liquid begins to oscillate at a high frequency. These oscillations cause a ripple-type pattern in the liquid as the transducer alternately generates negative and positive pressure. During the negative pressure phase, microscopically tiny cavities are formed in the liquid exposed to the ultrasonics. These cavities then collapse in the subsequent positive pressure phase. This procedure is known as cavitation. It is the basis and indispensable prerequisite of all ultrasonic cleaning processes.
While the cavities are collapsing, strong waves and turbulence appear in the area immediately around the cavities. It is this turbulence that "blasts off" the soiling from the object being cleaned.

Most ultrasonic cleaning applications use chemicals in the liquid that is subjected to the ultrasonics. These chemicals support the cleaning process by attacking the surface of the soiling, thereby making it easier for the ultrasonic waves to "blast off" the particles. Since chemical effects become more severe as the temperature increases, ultrasonic tanks are generally kept at a high temperature.