Acoustical pressure of standing wave is used to suspend materials inside resonant chambers. Material is driven to standing-wave antinodes where pressure is lowest. Pressure at nodes is greatest, which prevents suspended material from collecting there. Material can be moved inside chambers by changing wave patterns

Elleman, D. D.

Saffren, M. W.

Wang, T. G.

English

NASA Technical Reports Server

Figure 1. Spherical Resonator 
S
April 1975	 B75-10050 
NASA TECH BRIEF 
NASA Pasadena Office 
NASA Tech Briefs announce new fechnlogy derived from the U.S. space program. They are issued to encourage 
commercial application. Tech Briefs are available on a subscription basis from the National Technical Information 
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be directed to the Technology Utilization Office, NASA, Code KT, Washington, D.C. 20546. 
Resonant Chambers for Suspending Material in Air 
In several of the recently-developed resonant 
chambers, the acoustical pressure of a standing wave 
is used to suspend materials inside them. They can be 
used for studying the superfluidity of helium (He II) 
drops or for keeping materials inside them from 
touching the chamber walls. 
There are two chamber configurations. One is a 
spherical glass resonator, as shown in Figure 1, with a 
single acoustical driver. Bits of Styrofoam are shown 
suspended inside. The other configuration is a
rectangular plastic chamber, as shown in Figure 2, 
with three acoustical drivers which provide acoustical 
pressure in three mutually orthogonal directions. 
In both cases, the material is driven to the 
standing-wave antinodes where the pressure is the 
lowest. The pressure at the nodes is the greatest, 
which prevents the suspended material from collect-
ing there. The material can be moved inside the 
chambers by changing the wave patterns. 
(continued overleaf) 
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https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19750000050 2020-03-19T20:01:21+00:00Z
Figure 2. Rectangular Plastic Chamber
. 
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Reference: TSP75-10050
Patent status: 
This invention is owned by NASA, and a patent 
application has been filed. Inquiries concerning 
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Source: Taylor G. Wang, Melvin W. Saifren,

and Daniel D. Elleman of 
Caltech/JPL
under contract to
NASA Pasadena Office
(NPO-13263) 
Categories: 03 (Physical Sciences) 
B75-100-50
	 06 (Mechanics)


Resonant chambers for suspending materials in air

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