Papers by Keyword: Ultrasonic

Abstract: Heat pumps are rapidly emerging as a crucial solution in the pursuit of decarbonization, offering significant advantages over traditional boilers due to their superior energy efficiency. The outdoor unit of a heat pump consists of around twenty key components, including a complex network of copper pipes and sheets welded to valves, connectors, and other fittings. With over thirty welded joints, there is substantial potential to reduce manufacturing time through process optimization. Copper, known for its excellent thermal and electrical conductivity, is essential in many applications. However, these same properties make welding copper particularly challenging, especially when automating industrial processes. This study explores the ultrasonic welding of copper, aiming to determine the optimal parameters for maximizing the mechanical strength of overlapping sheet joints. The optimal parameters identified for the welding process are as follows: a welding time of 3 seconds, a pressure of 6 bar, a retention time of 0.62 seconds, an initial pressure of 2 bar, a retention pressure of 2 bar, and a rising pressure for the sonotrode of 3 bar.

Abstract: Biodiesel production from waste-or by-product oils having high free fatty acid (FFA) contents is required oil pretreatment. Esterification has been used to reduce FFA contents of crude oils prior to transesterification. In this present work, palm empty fruit bunch (EFB) oil which is a by-product from the palm oil industry was used as feedstock for biodiesel production. The EFB oil has very high FFA contents. Thus, esterification of the oil was carried out. The esterification was enhanced by dual frequency ultrasound waves (28 kHz + 40 kHz). Zeolite was used as a heterogenous acid catalyst. Methanol to oil (M:O) molar ratio, catalyst loading, and reaction were main factors affecting on the process and were investigated using central composite design (CCD) of experiment. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimise these parameters. The results showed that at the optimised condition of 12:1 M:O molar ratio, 11.36 %wt catalyst loading and 60 min of reaction time, the FFA conversion was highest at 91.69% compared with the predicted value of 93.56% which was only 1.99% difference between tested and predicted values.

Abstract: Using ultrasonic time difference method to test automobile fuel consumption, the test accuracy mainly depends on the testing system timing accuracy and ultrasonic flow sensor output signal-to-noise ratio. At present, the timing accuracy of the single-chip can reach the level of picosecond, and the noise mixed in the output signal of the ultrasonic converter is the main factor affecting the accuracy of fuel consumption testing. When the receiving signal contains noise, it will cause the signal amplitude to fluctuate, making the measurement time error. The analysis of same-frequency noise, circuit noise and colored noise is carried out, and the feasible measures to eliminate noise are put forward to provide reference for accurate calculation of sound and development of high-precision automobile fuel consumption test instruments.

Abstract: With the development of advanced manufacturing technology, ceramic matrix composite materials, a typically hard and brittle material, have been widely used in high-tech fields such as aerospace manufacturing. Due to the anisotropy of materials, the quality of conventional processing workpieces is poor, and the processing accuracy is difficult to guarantee. In this experiment, ceramic matrix composite materials are machined by ultrasonic vibration grinding with the CBN grinding rods. The influence of amplitude on the grinding force and the surface quality of the workpiece in the grinding process are analyzed by a series of experiments on ceramic matrix composites. The results show that, compared with the conventional grinding process, in the ultrasonic vibration-assisted grinding process, the grinding force is reduced by about 60%, and the surface quality is also improved significantly,the surface roughness Sa is reduced by about 25%.

Abstract: The powders of the BiInSn alloy were produced by the ultrasonic atomization and the ultrasonic mixed crushing using the different dispersants. In this study, the composition, microstructure, melting point, and size of these powders were observed. The viscosity of different solutions of the dispersants and the mechanical properties of the sintered bulk materials were also tested. From the data analysis and results, we found that the composition of the powders using the different methods was consistent with the as-cast state. In addition, the size of powder produced by ultrasonic mixed crushing was significantly smaller than that ultrasonic atomization. And during the ultrasonic crushing process, with the increase of the viscosity of the dispersant, the size of the final powder also decreased, and even submicron powder were produced. The product of submicron powder could effectively improve the density and mechanical properties of sintered materials. And the principles of ultrasonic atomization and ultrasonic mixed crushing were discussed. We found that the mechanism of ultrasonic mixed crushing to produce powder was the micro-shock-wave theory of ultrasonic cavitation. At the same time, these dispersants were effective in keeping the droplets separate from each other and preventing them from merging back into the larger droplets. The droplet was solidified into a powder by rapid cooling in the end.

Abstract: When joining lightweight parts of various materials, clinching is a cost efficient solution. In a production line, the quality of a clinch point is primarily controlled by measurement of dimensions, which are accessible from outside. However, methods such as visual testing and measuring the bottom thickness as well as the outer diameter are not able to deliver any information about the most significant geometrical characteristic of the clinch point, neck thickness and undercut. Furthermore, ex-situ destructive methods such as microsectioning cannot detect elastic deformations and cracks that close after unloading. In order to exceed the current limits, a new non-destructive in-situ testing method for the clinching process is necessary. This work proposes a concept to characterize clinch points in-situ by combining two complementary non-destructive methods, namely, computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonic testing. Firstly, clinch points with different geometrical characteristics are analysed experimentally using ex-situ CT to get a highly spatially resolved 3D-image of the object. In this context, highly X-ray attenuating materials enhancing the visibility of the sheet-sheet interface are investigated. Secondly, the test specimens are modelled using finite element method (FEM) and a transient dynamic analysis (TDA) is conducted to study the effect of the geometrical differences on the deformation energy and to qualify the TDA as a fast in-situ non-destructive method for characterizing clinch points at high temporal resolution.

Abstract: The demand for vegetable consumption is essential issue to serve citizens. Excessive protective chemical elimination which is applied advanced solutions brings high effects being investigated by domestic and international scientists. In this report, research team conducted and designed the vegetable washing machine integrated with the ultrasonic power and Ozone microbubbles to wash out plentiful protective chemicals attaching to surfaces of leafy vegetables. Followingly, using Taguchi method for four kinds of vegetables including salad, water spinach, Chinese cabbage, and mustard greens verifies the effectiveness of solutions. Vegetable samples are treated soaking pool making ultrasonic wave and Ozone microbubbles raging from 1.0ppm to 2.0ppm. The practical results demonstrated that the method using the ultrasonic power and Ozone microbubbles has high effects on eradicating protective chemical on leafy vegetables.

Abstract: Emulsification of water and fuel oil emulsion was experimentally investigated. The water-in-oil emulsion was produced with ultrasonic mixer and phase inversion concentration using a mixture of Span80 and Tween80 as emulsifiers. The emulsion was characterized by water droplet size, distribution and visual observation of microscopy photographs. Water in fuel oil emulsion prepared by phase inversion concentration was found to be similar to that prepared by the ultrasonic mixer in term of average droplet size and distribution

Abstract: In order to study the preparation of low-melting alloy powder in phase change materials, three sets of control experiments were set up in this paper. To explore the effects of ultrasonic oscillation, ultrasonic atomization technology and rapid cooling had an effect on the particle size, surface morphology and powder shape of ultrasonic powder making. In the experiment, ultrasonic atomization, rapidly cooling ultrasonic atomization, and ultrasonic vibration generated powder were tested. The results showed that the surface of fog droplets generated by ultrasonic atomization was smooth, with distinct particles. The powder diameter was large, ranging from 20-60 μm. The surface of the powder obtained by ultrasonic shock existed an aggregation phenomenon. The powder diameter was small ranging from 5-10 μm. The ultrasonic atomized powder obtained by rapid cooling was mostly spherical with a smooth surface. After the screening, spherical powder with a diameter of 15-25 μm and the smooth surface could be obtained. The results showed that the particle diameter is small and uniform, while the uneven surface was difficult to eliminate. The experimental conditions of rapid cooling were favorable for the smoothness of the particle surface and the roundness of powder shape. Spherical powder with a diameter of 15-25 μm can be obtained by screening the rapidly cooled powder after ultrasonic atomization. Different experimental conditions and technological approach can produce high-performance low melting point alloy powder.

Abstract: Composite materials structures are particularly susceptible to the damages induced by low-velocity impacts that may result in Barely Visible Impact Damages (BVIDs), which can hardly be identified through visual inspection. These damages are particularly dangerous, since they can critically reduce the mechanical properties of the impacted structures. In this work, the damage induced in impacted long and short fibre composite specimens has been experimentally evaluated by means of Non-Destructive Technique (NDT) inspections. The damages size and location have been evaluated by means of ultrasonic testing to assess the influence of fibres aspect ratio (long and short fibres), fibres material (carbon and glass), volume fraction, and impact energy for low velocity impacts on composite specimens. Considerations about the failure mechanisms arising as a consequence of the impact event and their interactions have been finally introduced.