Observations of water cavitation intensity under practical ultrasonic cleaning conditions

Abstract

In the industrial cleaning processes either organic solvents or water solutions are used as the cleaning media. The primary causative factor of ultrasonic cleaning is cavitation. Below are presented results of investigations into the influence of temperature, gas content and the solution level in an ultrasonic cleaner on cavitation intensity in the tap water. Previous investigations have revealed a great deal of information on the influence of the above factors on the cavitation intensity and these are confirmed. It has now been found that the tap water reaches the highest cavitation intensity at temperatures below 20 °C but during heating at higher temperatures (20–40 °C) a second peak of cavitation intensity may appear—depending on the height of water in the bath and air content.