Nonlinear Characterization of Half and Full Wavelength Power Ultrasonic Devices

It is well known that power ultrasonic devices whilst driven under elevated excitation levels exhibit nonlinear behaviors. If no attempt is made to understand and subsequently control these behaviors, these devices can exhibit poor performance or even suffer premature failure. This paper presents an experimental method for the dynamic characterization of a commercial ultrasonic transducer for bone cutting applications (Piezosurgery® Device) operated together with a variety of rod horns that are tuned to operate in a longitudinal mode of vibration. Near resonance responses, excited via a burst sine sweep method were used to identify nonlinear responses exhibited by the devices, while experimental modal analysis was performed to identify the modal parameters of the longitudinal modes of vibration of the assemblies between 0-80 kHz. This study tries to provide an understanding of the effects that geometry and material choices may have on the nonlinear behavior of a tuned device.