Numerical simulation of microscale acoustic streaming flow

TL;DR

This paper presents numerical simulations of microscale acoustic streaming flows induced by surface acoustic waves in microchannels, aiming to improve fluid mixing efficiency in miniaturized systems for biological and chemical applications.

Contribution

It introduces a novel simulation approach for acoustic streaming flows driven by surface acoustic waves in microfluidic channels, enhancing understanding of microscale fluid mixing mechanisms.

Findings

Acoustic streaming flows can be effectively simulated using the proposed model.

Surface acoustic waves induce controllable streaming patterns in microchannels.

The results suggest potential for improved microfluidic mixing techniques.

Abstract

The efficient mixing of fluid samples in miniaturized total analysis systems is essential for numerous applications including biological screening assays, chemical extraction, polymerization, cell analysis, and protein folding. Miniaturized microfluidic platforms have recently emerged for microscale fluid mixing with their capabilities of high-throughput sample processing and reduced sample depletion. However, microscale fluid mixing is inherently hampered due to the characteristics of a low Reynolds number flows in diminutive channels. Microscale fluid mixing mainly depends on molecular diffusion and thus requires long processing time. In order to address the conundrum, a variety of active microfluidic approaches for swift and efficient mixing have been developed using electro-kinetic flow, laser-induced flow, magnetic stirring, and acoustic streaming flow (ASF). Among these techniques with external force fields, acoustofluidic fluid mixing has been acclaimed due to its on-demand, controllable, non-invasive and biocompatible nature. In this study, we performed numerical simulations of acoustic streaming flows, induced by with a highly localized surface acoustic waves (SAWs), in a microscale fluidic channel based on an acoustic wave attenuation model