Developing high intensity ultrasonic cleaning (HIUC) for post-processing additively manufactured metal components

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Acoustics

Background:

• Ultrasonic cleaning is used in various applications, but typically at lower cavitation intensities.
• Metal additive manufacturing (AM) components often have undesirable partially melted powders, increasing surface roughness and contamination risks.
• Conventional ultrasonic cleaning is insufficient for removing these AM surface contaminants.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate a high-intensity ultrasonic cleaning (HIUC) process for metal AM components.
• To achieve significantly higher inertial cavitation intensity than conventional ultrasonic cleaning.
• To demonstrate the removal of partially melted powders from AM surfaces.

Main Methods:

• Designed a HIUC system with transducers on four tank sides to focus acoustic energy.
• Utilized acoustic signal characterization to confirm high-amplitude pressure waves and inertial cavitation.
• Measured cavitation intensities at various locations to analyze wave transmission and distribution.
• Tested the HIUC process on metal AM components with partially melted powders.

Main Results:

• The HIUC system generated intense inertial cavitation, indicated by strong subharmonic signals.
• Cavitation intensity distribution was found to be highly dependent on height position within the tank.
• The HIUC process successfully removed partially melted powders from AM surfaces.
• Conventional ultrasonic cleaning failed to remove these powders.

Conclusions:

• The developed HIUC process offers superior cleaning performance for metal AM components.
• HIUC significantly enhances cleaning efficiency and specimen cleanliness compared to conventional methods.
• This technology addresses a critical challenge in post-processing metal AM parts.