Numerical simulation of 3D acoustophoretic motion of microparticles in an acoustofluidic device

Abstract

Acoustic streaming is typically found in addition to acoustic radiation forces in acoustofluidic devices. Simulation of acoustic streaming is a crucial step for the understanding of its origins, which can provide efficient guidance on creating designs to limit or control this phenomenon. However, most existing methods can only simulate the streaming field in a local area, typically a cross-section of fluid channel. In this work, the three-dimensional (3D) Rayleigh streaming pattern in an acoustofluidic device is simulated and its effects on the movement of microparticles with various sizes are demonstrated. The viability of the simulation of 3D Rayleigh streaming presented here not only can provide better understanding and more comprehensive prediction of experiments in full acoustofluidic devices, but also can offer instructions on the simulation of unusual acoustic streaming patterns, e.g. transducer-plane streamin