Application
Ultrasonic Cleaning Monitoring
Real-time, non-contact cavitation monitoring from above the tank. Detect transducer drift, degradation, and process anomalies before they affect part quality.
The Challenge
Ultrasonic cleaning effectiveness depends on consistent cavitation activity. But cavitation is invisible, and cleaning tanks degrade over time. Transducers lose power, fluid chemistry changes, temperature drifts, and mechanical wear affects coupling. Without monitoring, these changes go unnoticed until parts fail quality inspection.
Non-Contact Monitoring from Above
BROADSONIC monitors cavitation activity acoustically from above the cleaning tank with no submersion required. The sensor captures the full broadband spectrum of cavitation noise up to 5 MHz, providing rich diagnostic data about the cleaning process. Because it operates in air and never contacts the cleaning fluid, it requires no maintenance and does not interfere with the cleaning process.
What BROADSONIC Detects
- Transducer power degradation over time
- Uneven cavitation distribution across the tank
- Frequency drift in the cleaning transducers
- Process anomalies from fluid level, temperature, or chemical changes
- Sudden failures or intermittent transducer dropouts
From Reactive to Predictive
Continuous acoustic monitoring transforms cleaning QA from reactive pass/fail inspection to predictive maintenance. Trends in cavitation intensity, spectral content, and spatial distribution provide early warning of degradation, allowing corrective action before cleaning quality is compromised.
Measured Data
See What BROADSONIC Hears
Real spectrum measured from a commercial ultrasonic cleaning bath at 7 cm standoff. Toggle the cleaner to see the difference.
Acoustic amplitude spectrum · 50-trace average · Log scale
Comparison
How It Compares to Traditional Monitoring
| Method | Frequency Range | Contact Required? | Real-Time? | Spatial Info? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BROADSONIC | 20 Hz - 5 MHz | No (air-coupled) | Yes | Yes (scanning) |
| Hydrophone | Up to ~10 MHz | Yes (submerged) | Yes | Limited |
| Foil Erosion Test | N/A | Yes (submerged) | No (post-hoc) | Yes (but slow) |
| Calorimetric | N/A | No | No (batch) | No |
Supporting Research
Coupling the Thermal Acoustic Modes of a Bubble to an Optomechanical Sensor
Cavitation monitoring is fundamentally about bubble dynamics. This paper demonstrates optical sensing of individual bubble acoustic modes.
Download PDF →FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No. BROADSONIC monitors cavitation acoustically from above the cleaning tank with no submersion required. It operates in air and never contacts the cleaning fluid, so it requires no maintenance and does not interfere with the cleaning process.
BROADSONIC detects transducer power degradation over time, uneven cavitation distribution across the tank, frequency drift in cleaning transducers, process anomalies from fluid level, temperature, or chemical changes, and sudden failures or intermittent transducer dropouts.
A hydrophone must be submerged in the cleaning fluid, requires maintenance, and can interfere with the cleaning process. BROADSONIC operates entirely in air from above the tank with 20 Hz to 5 MHz bandwidth, providing richer spectral data with zero contact and no maintenance.
Yes. Continuous acoustic monitoring transforms cleaning QA from reactive pass/fail inspection to predictive maintenance. Trends in cavitation intensity, spectral content, and spatial distribution provide early warning of degradation, allowing corrective action before cleaning quality is compromised.
Evaluate BROADSONIC for Cleaning QA
Discuss your ultrasonic cleaning monitoring requirements and learn how non-contact acoustic sensing can improve process control and part quality.