Simulation and investigation of a particle positioning device performance by acoustophoretic phenomenon

In this paper, a new method based on ultrasonic waves is presented for particle positioning. In this method which is called acoustophoretic, at first, the particle is levitated and then is transferred to the desired position. Finite element software was applied for investigating and analyzing the effective parameters on this process. According to the simulations, after generating standing waves in air by a transducer and a reflector, the particle is trapped in the sound pressure node and is levitated. Then, proper voltage is applied to another transducer which is located 400 microns away from the first transducer. In this case, by changing the transducers' acceleration ratio which is related to the applied voltage; the particle could be easily transferred to the specific position. According to the transducers' acceleration ratio, the levitated particle position in the vertical and horizontal direction is described. In simulation results a predicted graph for particle position was presented. This graph is almost linear and therefore it is possible to anticipate the particle position in the horizontal direction. Finally, the lab-fabricated set for particle levitation was provided in order to verify the accuracy of the simulation results.