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Trapping microswimmers in acoustic streaming flow

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 April 2025

Xuyang Sun Open the ORCID record for Xuyang Sun [Opens in a new window] ,
Wenchang Tan  and
Yi Man Open the ORCID record for Yi Man [Opens in a new window]
Xuyang Sun
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, PR China
Wenchang Tan*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, PR China State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems, Peking University, Beijing, PR China PKU-HKUST Shenzhen-Hong Kong Institution, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, PR China
Yi Man*
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanics and Engineering Science, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing, PR China State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems, Peking University, Beijing, PR China
*
Corresponding authors: Yi Man, [email protected]; Wenchang Tan, [email protected]
Corresponding authors: Yi Man, [email protected]; Wenchang Tan, [email protected]
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Abstract

The acoustofluidic method holds great promise for manipulating micro-organisms. When exposed to the steady vortex structures of acoustic streaming flow, these micro-organisms exhibit intriguing dynamic behaviours, such as hydrodynamic trapping and aggregation. To uncover the mechanisms behind these behaviours, we investigate the swimming dynamics of both passive and active particles within a two-dimensional acoustic streaming flow. By employing a theoretically calculated streaming flow field, we demonstrate the existence of stable bounded orbits for particles. Additionally, we introduce rotational diffusion and examine the distribution of particles under varying flow strengths. Our findings reveal that active particles can laterally migrate across streamlines and become trapped in stable bounded orbits closer to the vortex centre, whereas passive particles are confined to movement along the streamlines. We emphasise the influence of the flow field on the distribution and trapping of active particles, identifying a flow configuration that maximises their aggregation. These insights contribute to the manipulation of microswimmers and the development of innovative biological microfluidic chips.

JFM classification

Biological Fluid Dynamics: Micro-organism dynamics Biological Fluid Dynamics: Swimming/flying
Type
JFM Papers
Information
Journal of Fluid Mechanics , Volume 1008 , 10 April 2025 , A32
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Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press

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