Possibility of Metal Processing Using Ultrasonic Cavitation Jet

Abstract

Utilizing a high-intensity ultrasonic cavitation, a processing experiment was conducted with the aim of performing volumetric flow adjustment of a fuel jet nozzle to be used for a small engine, which cannot be carried out by a method such as machining. At the bottom of the nozzle used for the experiment, which is in the shape of a cup, a nozzle hole with a diameter of 0.15 mm is drilled. In this experiment, we make adjustments in the volumetric flow by grinding and removing the machining burr with the aid of the processing power of ultrasonic cavitation. The processing effect is highly dependent on the ultrasonic cavitation intensity. In the experiment, the processing reservoir was filled with pressurized highly deaerated water to increase the processing force by allowing cavitation with high intensity to be generated. The processing principle is to utilize the effect of a cavitation jet flow passing through the nozzle hole. To restrain the intake of the bubbles into the flow circuits during the pressure reduction cycle of the vibrator, the water flow was discharged into a pressure reduction reservoir. By allowing the horn tip with a diameter of 6 mm at a frequency of 28 kHz to approach the sample, followed by high-intensity ultrasonic irradiation, powerful cavitation was generated. As a result of the evaluation of the processing efficiency made based on the volumetric flow increase and microscopic observation of the nozzle, burrs smaller than 10 µm were almost entirely removed within 15 min of initial irradiation, resulting in a volumetric flow increase of more than 0.4%/min. However, in the case of burrs of more than 10 µm, no force that could remove the burrs was found. It was surprising for the burrs to generate deformation rather than to be removed.