Development and study of novel non-contact ultrasonic motor based on principle of structural asymmetry.

The article presents novel design of non-contact rotary ultrasonic motor consisting of ring-shaped stator vibrating in in-plane flexural mode and rotor provided with blades. In contrast to other motors with similar design proposed motor relies on the use of standing ultrasonic waves. This simplifies design and electronic control of motor and becomes possible due to introduction of artificial asymmetry, for example by tilting one or several blades of the rotor relative to the surface normal. Operating principle of the proposed motor is based on acoustic radiation torque exerted on rotor by ultrasonic waves propagating in air or fluid gap between rotor and stator. This torque is calculated using finite element method by means of COMSOL Multiphysics software. Dynamics of rotor is studied using MathCad software and general theory of nonlinear conservative oscillators. Role of asymmetry is explained on the basis of comparative analysis of potential functions and phase trajectories for symmetric and asymmetric cases. It is shown that direction of rotation is determined by structural parameters of motor, particularly tilting direction (clockwise or counter-clockwise) of the blades. Conceptual design of motor with bidirectional rotation is described. Direction and velocity of rotation in the proposed conceptual design can be potentially controlled by changing excitation frequency of stator.

Combined low-frequency ultrasound and streptokinase intravascular destruction of arterial thrombi in vivo.

To prevent a distal embolization in the course of ultrasound (US) angioplasty, we combined US thrombus disruption in peripheral artery in vivo with simultaneous administration of streptokinase (SK). Acute thrombosis was induced in the femoral arteries of 23 dogs. Two hours after thrombus formation, thrombus destruction was performed using US (36 kHz) and by a combined US+SK (75,000 U/kg) administration. The results showed that thrombi were disrupted completely by 1.5 ± 0.5 min US. A combined US+SK action resulted in activation of fibrinolysis, as indicated by the increase in the content of fibrinogen and fibrin degradation products and D-dimers by a factor of 1.5-2.0 after 120 min from start of treatment compared with the SK lysis. The duration of clot destruction did not change; the distal embolization was not indicated; platelet aggregation activity dropped after thrombus destruction. In summary, intravascular thrombus destruction by a combined US and SK action in vivo is accompanied by enhancing the enzymatic fibrinolysis and lowering the platelet aggregation activity that assists in preventing the distal embolization of the resulting clot debris.

Modeling of flexible waveguides for ultrasonic vibrations transmission: longitudinal and flexural vibrations of non-deformed waveguide.

The article presents the mathematical model allowing to investigate longitudinal and flexural vibrations of stepped flexible waveguides with transitional section without regard to various vibration modes interaction. The model uses original numerical-analytic calculations based on analytical solutions of the equation of waveguide steps vibrations and their continuous matching with numerical solution of the equation of transitional section vibrations. The proposed model can be considered as an initial approximation to the solution of the problem of flexible waveguides design, which makes it possible to determine and validate effective methods of its addressing. Resonant curves of longitudinal and flexural vibrations of two-step waveguide are traced for the given vibration frequency. Step lengths values providing simultaneous resonance of longitudinal and flexural vibrations for the given frequency are determined. Validity of the proposed model is proved by the results of finite elements method (FEM) modeling using ANSYS software. Application of Timoshenko's model instead of Euler-Bernoulli's model for description of flexural vibrations enabled reduction of relative deviation of resonant frequencies calculated using ANSYS from the value specified during resonant curves tracing down to negligible value (0.17%).