© 2004 Robert A. Freitas Jr. and Ralph C. Merkle. All Rights Reserved.

Robert A. Freitas Jr., Ralph C. Merkle, Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines, Landes Bioscience, Georgetown, TX, 2004.

B.4.4 Thermal Expansion, Acoustic Cavitation and Resonance

The proposed molecular assembler, as an acoustically-driven device, dissipates energy locally, hence produces waste heat which could produce small stresses from uneven wall heating; this possibility is evaluated in Section B.4.4.1. Sections B.4.4.2-B.4.4.6 consider the possibility of acoustic cavitation, resonances, and related effects in a submicron-scale diamond box acoustically driven at 10 MHz in an n-octane bath. Studies of acoustic cavitation in liquid n-octane have yet to be performed and should be undertaken as soon as possible. The risks of cavitation in the nanomedical context have already been noted elsewhere [228].

Last updated on 1 August 2005