Morphing Surfaces Enable Acoustophoretic Contactless Transport of Ultrahigh-Density Matter in Air
Open access
Date
2013-11-11Type
- Journal Article
Abstract
The controlled contactless transport of heavy drops and particles in air is of fundamental interest and has significant application potential. Acoustic forces do not rely on special material properties, but their utility in transporting heavy matter in air has been restricted by low power and poor controllability. Here we present a new concept of acoustophoresis, based on the morphing of a deformable reflector, which exploits the low reaction forces and low relaxation time of a liquid with enhanced surface tension through the use of thin overlaid membrane. An acoustically induced, mobile deformation (dimple) on the reflector surface enhances the acoustic field emitted by a line of discretized emitters and enables the countinuos motion of heavy levitated samples. With such interplay of emitters and reflecting soft-structure, a 5 mm steel sphere (0.5 grams) was contactlessly transported in air solely by acoustophoresis. Show more
Permanent link
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000074768Publication status
publishedExternal links
Journal / series
Scientific ReportsVolume
Pages / Article No.
Publisher
NatureSubject
Mechanical engineering; Soft materials; Fluid dynamics; Applied physicsOrganisational unit
03462 - Poulikakos, Dimos (emeritus) / Poulikakos, Dimos (emeritus)
Funding
144397 - “Digitized” Acoustic Actuation for Precise Contactless Transport of Droplets in Air (SNF)
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