Acoustically bound crystals

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates how bubbles in a microchannel self-organize into acoustically bound crystals through acoustic interactions, revealing unique vibration modes and boundary interactions.

Contribution

It introduces the concept of acoustically bound bubble crystals and analyzes their interaction modes and boundary effects in microfluidic environments.

Findings

Bubbles self-organize into periodic patterns under acoustic fields

Identification of unique vibration modes of confined bubbles

Analysis of boundary interactions resembling image bubbles

Abstract

In these fluid dynamics videos, we show how bubbles flowing in a thin microchannel interact under an acoustic field. Because of acoustic interactions without direct contact, bubbles self-organize into periodic patterns, and spontaneously form acoustically bound crystals. We also present the interaction with boundaries, equivalent to the interaction with image bubbles, and unravel the peculiar vibration modes of the confined bubbles.