Acoustic tweezing of bioparticles has distinct advantages over other manipulation methods such as electrophoresis or magnetophoresis in biotechnological applications. This manipulation method guarantees the viability of the bio-particles during and after the process. In this paper, the effects of sinusoidal boundaries of a microchannel on acoustophoretic manipulation of microparticles are studied. Our results show that while top and bottom walls are vertically actuated at the horizontal half-wave resonance frequency, a large mono-vortex appears, which is never achievable in a rectangular geometry with flat walls and one-dimensional oscillations. The drag force caused by such a vortex in combination with the tilted acoustic radiation force leads to trapping and micromixing of microparticles with diameters larger and smaller than the critical size, respectively. Simulation results in this paper show that efficient particle trapping occurs at the intermediate sinusoidal boundary amplitudes. It is also indicated that in a square-sinusoidal geometry there are two strong vortices, instead of one vortex. Sub-micrometer particles tend to be trapped dramatically faster in such a geometry than in the rectangular-sinusoidal ones.

No abstract

Geometry of the fluid container plays a key role in the shape of acoustic streaming patterns. Inadvertent vortices can be troublesome in some cases, but if treated properly, the problem turns into a very useful parameter in acoustic tweezing or micromixing applications. In this paper, the effects of sinusoidal boundaries of a microchannel on acoustic streaming patterns are studied. The results show that while top and bottom sinusoidal walls are vertically actuated at the resonance frequency of basic hypothetical rectangular microchannel, some repetitive acoustic streaming patterns are recognised in classifiable cases. Such patterns can never be produced in the rectangular geometry with flat boundaries. Relations between geometrical parameters and emerging acoustic streaming patterns lead us to propose formulas in order to predict more cases. Such results and formulations were not trivial at a glance.

Geometry of the fluid container plays a key role in the shape of acoustic streaming patterns. Inadvertent vortices can be troublesome in some cases, but if treated properly, the problem turns into a very useful parameter in acoustic tweezing or micromixing applications. In this paper, the effects of sinusoidal boundaries of a microchannel on acoustic streaming patterns are studied. Resultsshow that while top and bottom sinusoidal walls are vertically actuated at the resonance frequency of basic hypothetical rectangular microchannel, some repetitive acoustic streaming patterns are recognized in classifiable cases. Such patterns can never be produced in rectangular geometry with flat boundaries. Relations between geometrical parameters and emerging acoustic streaming patterns lead us to propose formulas in order to predict more cases. Such results and formulations were not trivial at a glance.