Ultrasonic Atomization by Difference between Vibration Displacements of Two Circular Vibrating Plates

One method of atomizing liquids is using ultrasound. A characteristic feature of this method is that the median value of the particle size of the atomized liquid is determined by the frequency of the ultrasonic vibrations. This feature means that the particle size can be controlled by using multiple vibration sources with different drive frequencies. However, since regular vibration sources have a single resonant frequency, the particle size is fixed. The authors therefore investigate a new method for controlling the particle size of the atomized liquid that does not depend on the resonant frequency of the vibration source. Specifically, we use the difference in magnitude between the vibration displacements of two vibrating plates to perform atomization using a vibration source consisting of two transverse vibrating plates and supplying water into the gap between these two vibrating plates. Our aim is controlling the atomized particle size, which is conventionally determined by the drive frequency, using the difference in magnitude between the vibration displacements of the two vibrating plates. In this manuscript, we first clarify how water can be atomized using two transverse vibrating plates. Next, we investigate the optimal vibrating plate shape for atomization.