19th INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON ACOUSTICS

MADRID, 2-7 SEPTEMBER 2007

ULTRASONIC PARTICLE MANIPULATION DEVICES FORMED BY

RESONANTLY-EXCITED, CYLINDRICAL STRUCTURES

PACS: 43.25.Uv

Kaduchak, Gregory1; Ward, Michael D.2; Goddard, Gregory R.3

1
Acoustic Cytometry Systems; 3500 Trinity, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA;
kaduchak@acousticyte.com
2
Acoustic Cytometry Systems; 3500 Trinity, Los Alamos, NM 87544, USA;
ward@acousticyte.com
3
Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA;
ggoddard@acousticyte.com

ABSTRACT
The present research is an overview of acoustic particle manipulation devices that are
constructed from resonantly-excited cylindrical structures. These devices, in their most efficient
mode of excitation, rely upon matching the structural mode of an elastic cylindrical shell to a cavity
mode set up in its confined volume. In applications, discussed for both particles in air and liquids,
the structural vibrations are tuned such that desired modal responses are obtained. Lowest order
axisymmetric modes will be discussed as well as more localized particle concentration modes that
result from breaking the cylindrical symmetry of the system. Specific designs have demonstrated
that these devices can be engineered into power efficient assemblies for aerosol manipulation.
Examples of applications include line-driven cylindrical capillaries for real-time sample positioning
of biological samples in flow cytometers and cylindrical piezoelectric shells driven under multiple
symmetry conditions for aerosol concentration and positioning.

INTRODUCTION
Particle handling and trapping based upon acoustic radiation pressure is becoming an
important tool in biology, chemistry, environmental monitoring and clinical research. Capture of
particles at predetermined locations within flow channels (fluid streams or gas streams) or
modification of their trajectories has found increasing utility in many applications. In early
research in aerosol applications, scientists implemented acoustics to position macroscopic
samples (usually on the order of a millimeter or larger) in applications where the sample must
not contact the wall of a containment vessel. Many studies in containerless processing have
been conducted to observe, for example, the growth of freely forming crystals and
measurements of the physical properties of substances in both terrestrial and low gravity
environments.1,2 More recently, an interest in in-line monitoring of aerosols has made the
promise of using acoustics to position particles in flow streams for real time analysis appealing
for environmental monitoring applications. With the popularity of microfluidic systems, acoustic
trapping, transport, and positioning of particles in fluid streams has become an expanded field
of research.3-7
Over the past several decades a number of acoustic particle manipulation systems
based upon planar geometries have been proposed and successfully demonstrated, but
systems with cylindrical geometries are few. This paper gives a general overview of the
development of acoustic particle handling and trapping devices that are based upon cylindrical
geometries.

Force on particles
The force on a particle resulting from acoustic radiation pressure depends upon
frequency of excitation, pressure amplitude within the medium, particle size, and the
density/compressibility contrast between the particle and the host medium. Within an acoustic
standing wave, it is a time-averaged drift force which transports the particles to a stable
equilibrium resting position. The expression for the acoustic radiation force FU(x) on a
compressible, spherical particle in an acoustic standing wave is given by:8
 FU = − ∇U (1)

⎧⎪ ⎡ p 'in 2 v 'in 2 ⎤ ⎫⎪
FU = −∇ ⎨2π a ρ ⎢ 2 2 f1 −
3
f2 ⎥ ⎬ (2)
⎩⎪ ⎢⎣ 3ρ c 2 ⎥⎦ ⎪⎭

where p’in2 and v’in2 are the mean square fluctuations of the fluid pressure and velocity at the
location of the particle,
c2 ρ
f1 = 1 − (3)
c02 ρ 0
ρ0 − ρ
f2 = 2 , (4)
2ρ0 + ρ
and
ρ = mass density of the fluid
ρ0 = mass density of the particle
a = radius of the particle
c = speed of sound in the fluid
c0 = speed of sound in the particle.

The brackets correspond to a time-averaged quantity.

For pressure wave in planar devices, general solutions (plane waves) possess a spatial
dependence where the velocity antinodes and pressure nodes coincide. When plane wave
solutions are used to compute the force potential in Eq. (2), the potential minima occur at the
locations of either pressure nodes or pressure antinodes (or equivalently, velocity antinodes or
velocity nodes) depending upon the signs of the contrast factors f1 and f2.9 When analyzing
wavefields with different symmetries such as a cylindrical wavefield, collocation of pressure nodes
and velocity antinodes is no longer generally valid and the calculation of the positions to where
particles migrate becomes more complex. A good description showing the complexities of the
force potential generated by cylindrical and spherical wavefields (in a modal format) in rigid-
walled resonators is given by Barmatz.10

CYLINDRICAL ACOUSTIC CONCENTRATION DEVICES FOR PARTICLES IN AIR

Viscosity effects in air

For particles in air, both f1 and f2 are positive in Eq. (2) and particles are expected to be
driven to a spatial position where the velocity magnitude is large (minima in U) as a result of
acoustic radiation pressure. However, it was recognized that for small particles in air, effects of
the medium viscosity can be quite large. The findings of other researchers have suggested that
at low frequencies and for particles below a given size, the particles can migrate to regions of
11-13
high pressure magnitude. According to the theory (under a plane wave approximation), the
smallest particles are isolated at the pressure antinodes in the field as a result of a dominant
viscosity effect. As the frequency is increased, a ‘cross-over’ frequency is reached where the
particle position transitions from the pressure antinode to the pressure node. One of the first
embodiments of this effect was experimentally demonstrated by Mazumder where the ‘cross-
over’ frequency was used in a particle sizing instrument that sized particles in air down to 0.3
microns at acoustic frequencies of tens of kilohertz.14-15

Axisymmetric excitation of a cylindrical resonator

We have developed aerosol concentration devices that utilize acoustic forces in a
coupled cylindrical drive/cavity system.16-18 These devices can concentrate and position
aerosols quickly and inexpensively using sound waves created inside a vibrating tube. We
have shown that for certain embodiments, the solid-state device requires very little power (~0.1
W in certain configurations) to operate and have the potential to greatly increase the efficacy of
the current generation of aerosol detection devices (e.g., particle sizers, optical classifiers,
particle fluorescence monitors, etc.,). This can be done by precisely positioning or ‘steering’

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aerosol particles in a flowing air stream for detectors that require knowledge of the aerosol
particle location for proper detection and classification.

PZT
tube

concentrated
aerosol

Figure 1. – Axisymmetric drive cylindrical acoustic concentrator. The concentric rings

correspond to the approximate locations of the pressure nodes within the cavity.
Aerosol particles in the size range 10 – 20 microns are seen concentrated at these
positions. The diameter of this device is approximately 42 mm and operates at 25 kHz.

The cylindrical concentrator is constructed from a hollow, cylindrical piezoelectric tube. The
tube vibrates in a quasi-breathing mode wherein the wall of the tube vibrates with an
appreciable radial component. Within the cavity, aerosol particles experience a time-averaged
force that directs them to the vicinity of a pressure node or antinode within the resident sound
field depending on the particle size, particle density and compressibility, excitation frequency,
and the sound pressure level within the cavity.

low particle
concentration
elsewhere
antinode

particle
concentration
along 100 microns
antinode

Figure 2. – Photograph of 10 micron particles trapped onto a filter after passing through an
axisymmetric driven cylindrical device like shown in Fig. 1. The particles are aligned tightly
along a pressure antinode that was created as an annular ring about the central axis of the
tube.

Figure 1 displays the cross section of an acoustic concentrator driven in an

axisymmetric mode. In this mode, the potential minima within the cavity are concentric rings.
For the particle size and excitation frequency used in the experiment, the aerosol particles (> 10
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microns) migrate to concentric positions that are in the vicinity of pressure nodes.
Concentration factors of greater than 40 have been observed. An experiment conducted at a
lower excitation frequency shows the ‘cross-over’ effect where particles migrate to the vicinity of
pressure antinodes is shown in Fig. 2.

Symmetry breaking of the cavity

Though the axisymmetric-driven cylindrical tube with particles collecting at pressure
nodes lends to the simplest design, it does not lend to simple aerosol collection or interrogation
of aerosol particles due to the spatial geometry of particles arranged in concentric rings within
the cavity. It is difficult to collect concentrated aerosols from concentric rings, but more
importantly, due to the flow rates experienced in our testing ( < 200 LPM) and the spatial scales
involved, this technology is not yet positioned to replace high volume aerosol concentrators
(e.g. impactors, cyclones) which can achieve much higher flow rates and concentration factors.
Presently, these devices are well suited as a possible front-end for portable detectors where
high flow rates are not a requirement.

piezo-ceramic
pressure nodes
b
PZT
tube

concentrated
aerosol

Figure 3. – Cross section of ‘three node’ acoustic concentrator. (a) By symmetry breaking the
acoustic cavity, it is possible to create localized nodal configurations. (b) Experiment
demonstrating the symmetry breaking effect within the cavity of a cylindrical acoustic
concentrator. Symmetry is broken by inserting a small perturbation into the cavity. Aerosol is
pumped into the cavity and instantaneously transported to three localized pressure nodes. The
device is 27 mm in diameter and operates at 52 kHz.

Experiments in our laboratory have demonstrated that highly localized concentration

regions can be generated by breaking the symmetry of the circular cross section of the tube.
For the symmetry breaking application, a slight perturbation in the cross section of the circular

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geometry (e.g. by making the cross section slightly oblate as shown in Fig. 3(a)), can reduce the
concentric rings displayed in the experimental results in Fig. 1 to localized potential minima.
Experimental results demonstrating this effect are shown in Fig. 3(b). The creation of localized
minima allows for aerosol particles to be forced into several parallel streams for parallel
processing in detection and identification platforms. The number of aerosol streams can be
adjusted by altering the cavity design and the drive frequency of the tube. Designs with as few
as one and as many as six streams have been demonstrated.

CYLINDRICAL ACOUSTIC CONCENTRATION DEVICE

FOR PARTICLES IN LIQUID

Figure 4. – Diagram of line-
driven capillary. Forces due to
acoustic radiation pressure carry
particles to the location of an
axial pressure node along the
central axis of a glass capillary.
Line-driven capillary
Using the properties of acoustic radiation pressure in a
line-driven capillary, an acoustic focusing flow cell has
been developed that uses ultrasonic radiation pressure to
tightly focus micron size (and above) particles to the
center of a flowing stream. This device has been
constructed to replace hydrodynamic particle focusing in
flow cytometry systems. It is constructed from a capillary
that is driven by a piezoceramic source in line-contact
with its outer wall. Vibration of the structure creates a
localized pressure node along the central axis where an
axial particle trap is formed. A diagram of this device is
given in Fig. 4. Particles in a dilute suspension enter the
device from the top and experience a radial force that
transports them to the pressure node as they flow through
the system. In a flow cytometer, the particles contained in
a sample are simultaneously concentrated and aligned in
single file as they are then transported through the
interrogation laser.

focused
particle
stream

Figure 5. – Sequence of photographs showing 3 micron latex spheres focused along the axis
of a line-drive capillary. On the far left, the particles are sparsely distributed throughout the
capillary and cannot be seen. The middle scene is 0.1 seconds after activation of the
ultrasonic field. The particles transport to the center of the capillary. After 0.2 seconds
elapsed time (far right), the particles are focused in a tight line approximately 1-2 particles in
width.

This type of drive methodology yields large acoustic energy transfer into the flow
chamber due to the large source aperture. Because the entire structure is acoustically driven,
the system performs concentration over the entire length of the flow chamber thus increasing
the residence time of the particles in the acoustic field and allowing the use of lower power
levels (100’s of milliWatts). Low power levels alleviate problems that may arise from thermal
convection or cavitation.

Figure 5 is a sequence of photographs taken from a cylindrical line-driven capillary

during activation of the ultrasonic field. Each picture is separated by approximately 0.10 s. The
capillary is 0.500 mm inner diameter and the flow rate is 2 milliliters per minute. The excitation
frequency is 1.78 MHz. The particles used in the experiment are 3 micron latex spheres. The
device operation has demonstrated both stable and repeatable over long time periods. Similar
results are shown in Fig. 6 where 20 µm fluorescent particles are registered in single file as they

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flow through the capillary. Single file registration and positioning are necessary for high
sensitivity flow cytometry applications.

CONCLUSIONS
Examples of ultrasonic particle manipulation devices
that possess cylindrical geometry have been shown.
These devices include line-driven cylindrical capillaries
for real-time sample positioning of biological samples
in flow cytometers and cylindrical piezoelectric shells
driven under multiple symmetry conditions for aerosol
concentration and positioning.

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