Modeling of complex acoustofluidic devices

Nils Refstrup Skov*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Book/ReportPh.D. thesis

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Abstract

Acoustofluidics is the interdisciplinary combined field of ultrasound acoustics and microfluidics. The interplay between acoustic standing pressure- and velocity waves and the laminar channel flows in microchips enable reproducible and controllable manipulation of the position of suspended cells and particles as small as on the nanometer-scale. Acoustofluidics is an emerging field and the bulk of the theoretical foundation experimentalists rely on when designing new devices is based on idealized systems and approximated twodimensional numerical models. These create a good understanding of systems and can explain most experimentally observed phenomena. As the acoustofluidic community grows the channel designs grow in amount and complexity. Hence, a move away from idealized and approximated systems towards more complete, threedimensional numerical models may be necessary. That is the topic of this thesis. In this thesis we document the gradual development of a numerical model intended to accurately model complex acoustofluidic microdevices. The model grows from a simpel two-dimensional model containing few elements to a three-dimensional model capable of modeling microdevices to scale. Along the development we verify the model predictions using analytical and experimental results. Additionally, we use it to draw out knowledge about the rapidly oscillating acoustic fields that are not readily measured experimentally, thus gaining insight in the physical phenomena happening in the devices. Finally, we use the predictive powers of the model as a design tool to improve on existing microdevices and even creating an entirely new one.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLyngby, Denmark
PublisherTechnical University of Denmark
Number of pages151
Publication statusPublished - 2019

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