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Microparticle Manipulation by Standing Surface Acoustic Waves with Dual-frequency Excitations

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Published on: August 21, 2018

Acoustic particle velocity horns.

Dimitri M Donskoy¹, Benjamin A Cray

¹Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, USA. ddonskoy@stevens.edu

The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America

|May 8, 2012

Summary

Acoustic velocity horns (AVHs) amplify particle velocity for vector sensing, unlike pressure horns. These compact, open-ended devices offer directional amplification, with performance controlled by length, throat radius, and flare rate.

Area of Science:

Acoustics
Signal Processing
Transducer Design

Background:

Conventional acoustic horns amplify pressure, limiting their use in vector sensing.
Particle velocity amplification is crucial for advanced acoustic applications like vector sensing.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate acoustic velocity horns (AVHs) for particle velocity amplification.
To explore AVH suitability for vector sensing applications.
To analyze AVH performance independent of overall size relative to acoustic wavelength.

Main Methods:

Derivation and analysis of Webster's one-dimensional horn equation for AVHs.
Modeling of single conical, exponential, and double-horn configurations.
Numerical verification of predicted horn amplification factors.

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Main Results:

AVHs provide significant velocity amplification in a compact form factor (much less than one acoustic wavelength).
AVH performance is primarily governed by three geometric parameters: length, throat radius, and flare rate.
Velocity amplification is largely frequency-independent below a specific resonance region.

Conclusions:

Acoustic velocity horns are effective for particle velocity amplification and directional vector sensing.
The open-ended configuration is key to AVH functionality, distinguishing them from pressure horns.
AVHs offer predictable performance based on geometric design, enabling tailored applications.