Acoustic concentration of particles in piezoelectric tubes: Theoretical modeling of the effect of cavity shape and symmetry breaking

Abstract

A new class of simple, highly efficient, cylindrical acoustic concentration devices has been developed based upon cylindrical (or near cylindrical) geometries [Kaduchak et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 73, 1332–1336 (2002)] for aerosol concentration applications. The concentrators are constructed from single PZT tubes driven at or near the breathing mode resonance. Acoustic concentration of aerosols is performed within the tube cavity. It has been found that slight modifications to the cylindrical cavity geometry can significantly increase the collection efficiency and assist in precise particle positioning. This paper analyzes the theoretical framework for the acoustic concentration of particles in these devices for various geometrical perturbations. The cavity geometries studied are (1) hollow cylindrical piezoelectric tube, (2) hollow piezoelectric tube with an inner concentric solid cylinder insert, (3) a hollow piezoelectric tube with a concentric elliptic insert which breaks the circular-cylindrical symmetry, and (4) a hollow elliptic cylindrical piezoelectric tube. It is shown that breaking the circular symmetry within the cavity localizes the particles in small spatial regions within the cavity. This localization of particles may be very useful in applications requiring aerosol collection or particle stream positioning.