Position Control of Micro Particles in a Fluid Flow Using Ultrasonic Standing Wave

Using ultrasonic standing waves, micro particles submerged or flowing in fluid can be manipulated. Due to acoustic radiation force of ultrasound, particles are forced to move to pressure nodal or antinodal lines. In this work, we propose a method to control the position of micro particle in a flow by adjusting the frequency of the standing wave. To this end, standing wave field generation system including a few millimeter thick micro channel was established using an immersible ultrasonic transducer. The present generation system works valid in a frequency range between 2.0 MHz and 2.5 MHz. We observed the SiC particles in water moved to pressure nodal lines by the standing wave. The effect of the channel thickness and operating frequency was also investigated. Interestingly, it was shown that the operating frequency have a close relation with the location of the pressure nodal line. Consequently, it fan be said that the position of particle movement rail be controlled by adjusting the ultrasound frequency. The maximum range of the controllable position was about 261 micrometers under the given condition. The resulted observations reveal the possibility of various applications of the ultrasonic standing wave to the manipulation of particles submerged in a fluid.