Honors Theses

Date of Award

2015

Document Type

Undergraduate Thesis

Department

Physics and Astronomy

First Advisor

Joel Mobley

Relational Format

Dissertation/Thesis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of a model of the propagation of ultrasonic fields produced by an ultrasonic transducer, a device that uses a piezoelectric crystal to produce high-intensity ultrasonic waves. The transducer operates immersed in a water bath where it generates waves of sufficient intensity to produce non-linear phenomena that include acoustic streaming and cavitation. This study used a planar transducer to visualize the damaging effects of high-intensity ultrasonic waves targeted on acrylic plates. Seven plates were targeted and positioned from 8.5 to 11.5 cm from the transducer. The spatial distribution and degree of damage in the plates were compared to detailed measurement and numerical models of the field produced by this transducer under lower power operating conditions. The amount of damage to the acrylic plates depended on the distances of the transducer from the plate. The spatial distributions of the damage on the plates matched well with the measurements from the numerical model predictions.

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