Re-examining the boundary conditions in modelling SAW-driven acoustofluidic streaming

TL;DR

This paper compares boundary conditions in numerical models of SAW-driven acoustofluidic streaming, demonstrating that the Stokes slip condition provides more accurate predictions aligned with experimental data than the traditional no-slip condition.

Contribution

It systematically evaluates the impact of boundary condition choices in simulations, establishing the superiority of the Stokes slip condition for modeling acoustic streaming.

Findings

Stokes slip boundary condition yields better agreement with experiments.

No-slip condition overpredicts velocities by 1-2 orders of magnitude.

Stokes drift accurately captures vortex structures and flow directions.

Abstract

Numerical simulations of surface acoustic wave (SAW)-induced acoustic streaming are highly sensitive to the choice of second-order boundary conditions. This study systematically compares the no-slip (NS) and Stokes slip (SD) boundary conditions through different numerical approaches. Two- and three-dimensional simulations based on the Reynolds stress method are performed for standing SAW and travelling SAW devices. Results are validated against particle image velocimetry measurements of streaming patterns and velocities. We show that the SD condition yields Lagrangian velocity fields in significantly better agreement with experiments than the NS condition, accurately capturing vortex number, rotation direction, and amplitude across varying device geometries and operating conditions. In contrast, the NS condition overpredicts velocities by 1-2 orders of magnitude and often fails to reproduce experimentally observed vortex structures. These findings highlight the essential role of the Stokes drift boundary condition in modelling acoustic streaming and provide clear guidance for its use in future simulations of SAW-based acoustofluidic systems.