NUMERICAL CALCULATION OF ACOUSTIC RADIATION FORCE AND TORQUE IN ACOUSTOPHORESIS

Abstract

Acoustic radiation force has been widely used to manipulate particle movement in microfluidic devices. In acoustophoresis applications, accurate calculation of the acoustic radiation force is essential. Many analytical solutions of the acoustic radiation force have been proposed, mainly for spheres and spheroids in an axisymmetric configuration. The use of these formulae for biological cells might result in an erroneous result since most biological cells are not spherical in shape and they may have arbitrary orientation in the microfluidic channel. In this study, a three-dimensional boundary element model is developed to calculate the acoustic radiation force and torque acting on particles of arbitrary shapes and sizes subjected to arbitrary acoustic waves.