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On the streaming in a microfluidic Kundt's tube

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 January 2021

Alen Pavlic*
Affiliation:
Institute for Mechanical Systems, ETH Zurich, Tannenstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Jürg Dual
Affiliation:
Institute for Mechanical Systems, ETH Zurich, Tannenstrasse 3, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
*
†Email address for correspondence: apavlic@ethz.ch

Abstract

We derive an analytical solution for the acoustic streaming inside a rigid tube resulting from a pseudo-standing wave field, generated by two counterpropagating travelling waves. We solve the second-order axisymmetric problem that follows from the perturbation expansion of the governing equations. In the process, we impose no restriction on the diameter of the tube with respect to the thickness of the viscous boundary layer and acoustic wavelength. The derived solution is then used to study the evolution of streaming patterns inside the tube when geometrical and material parameters are varied. We show how the Schlichting streaming torus at the wall bounds the Rayleigh streaming near the axis of the tube. Decreasing the ratio ($\varXi$) of the tube radius to the viscous boundary layer thickness gradually expands the Schlichting streaming, suppressing the Rayleigh streaming. Considering the average mass transport velocity, the Rayleigh streaming vanishes at the critical ratio $\varXi _{{S}}^{{M}}=6.2$. The critical ratio is independent of fluid properties in the limit of large acoustic wavelength relative to the radius of the tube ($\varLambda$). When $\varLambda$ decreases towards unity, large-scale Eckart-like streaming develops near the axis, superseding the Rayleigh streaming, while the Schlichting streaming remains at the wall. In addition, we demonstrate the relevance of the compressibility of the streaming flow and of the full inclusion of the spatial variation of the Reynolds stress that acts as the streaming source. The study is especially relevant for microfluidic systems, wherein the viscous boundary layer can reach significant thicknesses.

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JFM Papers
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This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press.
Figure 0

Figure 1. The geometry in a cylindrical coordinate system ($r, \theta , z$) that serves as a basis for the analytical solution. The fluid is bounded within a rigid tube of radius $a$ and of infinite length $L$.

Figure 1

Table 1. Material properties of the fluids used in the numerical analysis (Miner & Dalton 1953; Hirai & Eyring 1958; Karlsen & Bruus 2015).

Figure 2

Figure 2. The real and imaginary parts of the wavenumber according to (3.31) and (3.32), respectively, for water, oil and glycerol: (a) $k_R$ at $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$; (b) $k_I$ at $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$; (c) $k_R$ at $f = 1\ \textrm {MHz}$; (d) $k_I$ at $f = 1\ \textrm {MHz}$. The dimensionless ratio $\varXi = a / \delta$ represents the varying tube radius relative to the viscous boundary layer thickness. The real and imaginary parts of the wavenumber in an unbounded fluid domain $k_{{f}}$ are plotted for reference.

Figure 3

Figure 3. The first-order pressure in oil along the $z$-axis, at $r=a/2$, for $f =100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. The dimensionless ratio $\varXi = a / \delta$ represents the varying tube radius relative to the viscous boundary layer thickness of $\delta = 12\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$. For each radius of the tube, we plot the pressure in the range of $- 5 \lambda _{{R}} < z < 5 \lambda _{{R}}$, with $\lambda _{{R}} = 2 {\rm \pi}/ k_{{R}}$.

Figure 4

Figure 4. The terminology used for different types of streaming vortices. Rayleigh streaming denotes the fluid flow from the velocity node to the antinode near the axis of the tube, and the flow in the opposite direction near the wall. Schlichting streaming denotes the flow in the direction opposite to that of the Rayleigh streaming.

Figure 5

Figure 5. Visual explanation of the critical values of $\varXi = a/\delta$ and $\varLambda =\lambda /a$ used in the analysis. In the case of $\varXi < \varXi _{{S}}$ the Rayleigh streaming disappears completely, and only the Schlichting streaming remains. This happens when the axial component of the streaming at the axis, at $z=\lambda _{{R}}/8$, changes direction. When $\varLambda < \varLambda _{{E}}$, large-scale Eckart-like streaming begins to develop near the axis of the tube. The ratio $\varLambda _{{E}}$ is defined as the value of $\varLambda$ at which the axial streaming velocity at the axis, evaluated at $z=3 \lambda _{{R}}/8$, changes direction, while $\varXi > \varXi _{{S}}$.

Figure 6

Figure 6. The average mass transport velocity patterns in oil, for a tube radius of (a) $a=270\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 22.5)$, (b) $a=120\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 10)$, (c) $a=90\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 7.5)$, (d) $a=70\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 5.83)$, (e) $a=50\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 4.17)$ and (f) $a=40\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 3.33)$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$. The corresponding acoustic wavelength is $\lambda = 14.45\ \textrm {mm}$, while the actual wavelength is $14.14\ \textrm {mm} \geqslant \lambda _{{R}} \geqslant 12.67\ \textrm {mm}$. The viscous boundary layer has a thickness of $\delta = 12\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$. The first velocity node is at $z=0$, while the first velocity antinode appears at $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 4$. Arrows indicate the direction of the flow.

Figure 7

Figure 7. The Eulerian streaming velocity patterns in oil, for a tube radius of (a) $a=270\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 22.5)$, (b) $a=120\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 10)$, (c) $a=90\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 7.5)$, (d) $a=70\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 5.83)$, (e) $a=50\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 4.17)$ and (f) $a=40\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 3.33)$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$. The corresponding acoustic wavelength is $\lambda = 14.45\ \textrm {mm}$, while the actual wavelength is $14.14\ \textrm {mm} \geqslant \lambda _{{R}} \geqslant 12.67\ \textrm {mm}$. The viscous boundary layer has a thickness of $\delta = 12\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$. The first velocity node is at $z=0$, while the first velocity antinode appears at $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 4$. Arrows indicate the direction of the flow.

Figure 8

Figure 8. The analysis of the axial velocity profiles in oil, at $z=\lambda _{{R}}/8$, for a tube radius of (a) $a=270\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 22.5)$, (b) $a=120\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 10)$, (c) $a=90\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 7.5)$, (d) $a=70\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 5.83)$, (e) $a=50\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 4.17)$ and (f) $a=40\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 3.33)$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. Also shown for comparison are the $z$-components of the Eulerian streaming velocity, $v_2^z$, the Lagrangian streaming velocity, $v_2^{{L} z}$, the average mass transport velocity, $v_2^{{M} z}$, and a reference velocity (evaluated at $z=\lambda /8$) from Schuster & Matz (1940), $v_2^{{S} z}$, given as (G1) in appendix G.

Figure 9

Figure 9. Analysis of the radial velocity profiles in oil, at $r=a/2$, for a tube radius of (a) $a=270\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 22.5)$, (b) $a=120\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 10)$, (c) $a=90\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 7.5)$, (d) $a=70\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 5.83)$, (e) $a=50\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 4.17)$ and (f) $a=40\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 3.33)$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. Also shown for comparison are the $r$-components of the Eulerian streaming velocity, $v_2^r$, the Lagrangian streaming velocity, $v_2^{{L} r}$, the average mass transport velocity, $v_2^{{M} r}$, and a reference velocity from Schuster & Matz (1940), $v_2^{{S} r}$, given as (G1) in appendix G.

Figure 10

Figure 10. The $z$-component of the average mass transport velocity, $v_2^{{M} z}$, at $r = 0$ and $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 8$, depending on the normalized tube radius $\varXi = a / \delta$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. The critical ratio $\varXi _{{S}}^{{M}}$ is defined as the value of $\varXi$ at which $v_2^{{M} z}$ changes direction. The velocity magnitudes (S. & M.) calculated with the model of Schuster & Matz (1940) are given for reference (see (G2) in appendix G).

Figure 11

Figure 11. The $z$-component of the Eulerian streaming velocity, $v_2^z$, at $r = 0$ and $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 8$, depending on the normalized tube radius $\varXi = a / \delta$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. The critical ratio $\varXi _{{S}}$ is defined as the value of $\varXi$ at which $v_2^z$ changes direction. The velocity magnitudes (S. & M.) calculated with the model of Schuster & Matz (1940) are given for reference (see (G2) in appendix G).

Figure 12

Figure 12. The $z$-components of the average mass transport velocity and the Eulerian streaming velocity, $v_2^{{M} z}$ and $v_2^z$, respectively, in glycerol. The velocities depend on the normalized acoustic wavelength $\varLambda = \lambda / a$, which is varied by varying the frequency ($10.441\ \textrm {MHz} \geq f \geq 22.738\ \textrm {kHz}$) and the radius of the tube ($131.4\ \mathrm {\mu }\textrm {m} \leq a \leq 2814.6\ \mathrm {\mu }\textrm {m}$), keeping $\varXi$ constant at $22.5$. The velocities are evaluated at $r = 0$ and $z = 3 \lambda _{{R}} / 8$, for $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. The critical ratios $\varLambda _{{E}}^{{M}}$ and $\varLambda _{{E}}$ are defined as the values of $\varLambda$ at which $v_2^{{M} z}$ and $v_2^z$, respectively, change direction.

Figure 13

Figure 13. The average mass transport velocity patterns in glycerol, for (a) $\varLambda =10$, (b) $\varLambda =4$, (c) $\varLambda =3$, (d) $\varLambda =2.5$, (e) $\varLambda =2$ and (f) $\varLambda =1$. The patterns depend on the normalized acoustic wavelength $\varLambda = \lambda / a$, which is varied by varying the frequency ($204.644\ \textrm {kHz} \leq f \leq 20.464\ \textrm {MHz}$) and the radius of the tube ($938.2\ \mathrm {\mu }\textrm {m} \geq a \geq 93.8\ \mathrm {\mu }\textrm {m}$), keeping $\varXi$ constant at $22.5$. The first velocity node is at $z=0$, while the first velocity antinode appears at $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 4$. Arrows indicate the direction of the flow.

Figure 14

Figure 14. The average mass transport velocity patterns in glycerol, for (a) $\varLambda =10$, (b) $\varLambda =4$, (c) $\varLambda =2.5$ and (d) $\varLambda =1$. The patterns depend on the normalized acoustic wavelength $\varLambda = \lambda / a$, which is varied by varying the frequency ($204.644\ \textrm {kHz} \leq f \leq 20.464\ \textrm {MHz}$) and the radius of the tube ($938.2\ \mathrm {\mu }\textrm {m} \geq a \geq 93.8\ \mathrm {\mu }\textrm {m}$), keeping $\varXi$ constant at $22.5$. The first velocity node is at $z=0$, while the first velocity antinode appears at $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 4$. The patterns are plotted on the interval $0 \leq z \leq 4 \lambda$ to reveal the large-scale nature of the streaming flow. Arrows indicate the direction of the flow.

Figure 15

Figure 15. The Eulerian streaming velocity patterns in oil, using the Eulerian divergence-free formulation, i.e. $\boldsymbol {\nabla } \boldsymbol {\cdot } \left \langle \boldsymbol {v}_2 \right \rangle = 0$, for a tube radius of (a) $a=270\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 22.5)$, (b) $a=120\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 10)$, (c) $a=90\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 7.5)$, (d) $a=70\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 5.83)$, (e) $a=50\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 4.17)$ and (f) $a=40\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 3.33)$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$. The corresponding acoustic wavelength is $\lambda = 14.45\ \textrm {mm}$, while the actual wavelength is $14.14\ \textrm {mm} \geqslant \lambda _{{R}} \geqslant 12.67\ \textrm {mm}$. The viscous boundary layer has a thickness of $\delta = 12\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$. The first velocity node is at $z=0$, while the first velocity antinode appears at $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 4$. Arrows indicate the direction of the flow.

Figure 16

Figure 16. The $z$-component of the Eulerian streaming velocity, $v_2^z$, using the divergence-free formulation, i.e. $\boldsymbol {\nabla } \boldsymbol {\cdot } \left \langle \boldsymbol {v}_2 \right \rangle = 0$, at $r = 0$ and $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 8$, depending on the normalized tube radius $\varXi = a / \delta$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. The critical ratio $\varXi _{{S}}$ is defined as the value of $\varXi$ at which $v_2^z$ changes direction. The velocity magnitudes (S. & M.) calculated with the model of Schuster & Matz (1940) are given for reference (see (G2) in appendix G).

Figure 17

Figure 17. The average mass transport velocity patterns in oil, assuming $E_{{R}}(r) = E_{{I}}(r) = 0$, for a tube radius of (a) $a=270\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 22.5)$, (b) $a=120\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 10)$, (c) $a=90\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 7.5)$, (d) $a=70\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 5.83)$, (e) $a=50\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 4.17)$ and (f) $a=40\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$$(\varXi = 3.33)$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$. The corresponding acoustic wavelength is $\lambda = 14.45\ \textrm {mm}$, while the actual wavelength is $14.14\ \textrm {mm} \geqslant \lambda _{{R}} \geqslant 12.67\ \textrm {mm}$. The viscous boundary layer has a thickness of $\delta = 12\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$. The first velocity node is at $z=0$, while the first velocity antinode appears at $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 4$. Arrows indicate the direction of the flow.

Figure 18

Figure 18. The $z$-component of the average mass transport velocity, $v_2^{{M} z}$, assuming $E_{{R}}(r) = E_{{I}}(r) = 0$, at $r=0$ and $z=\lambda _{{R}} / 8$, depending on the normalized tube radius $\varXi = a / \delta$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 100\ \textrm {kPa}$. The critical ratio $\varXi _{{S}}^{{M}}$ is defined as the value of $\varXi$ at which $v_2^{{M} z}$ changes direction. The velocity magnitudes (S. & M.) calculated with the model of Schuster & Matz (1940) are given for reference (see (G2) in appendix G).

Figure 19

Figure 19. The real and imaginary parts of the wavenumber in air according to (3.31) and (3.32), respectively: (a) $k_R$ at $f = 100\ \textrm {MHz}$; (b) $k_I$ at $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$; (c) $k_R$ at $f = 1\ \textrm {MHz}$; (d) $k_I$ at $f = 1\ \textrm {MHz}$. The dimensionless ratio $\varXi = a / \delta$ represents the varying tube radius relative to the viscous boundary layer thickness. The real and imaginary parts of the wavenumber in an unbounded fluid domain $k_{{f}}$ are plotted for reference.

Figure 20

Figure 20. The first-order pressure in air along the $z$-axis, at $r=a/2$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 1\ \textrm {kPa}$. The dimensionless ratio $\varXi = a / \delta$ represents the varying tube radius relative to the viscous boundary layer thickness of $\delta = 7.13\ {\mathrm {\mu }}\textrm {m}$. For each radius of the tube, we plot the pressure in the range of $- 5 \lambda _{{R}} < z < 5 \lambda _{{R}}$, with $\lambda _{{R}} = 2 {\rm \pi}/ k_{{R}}$.

Figure 21

Figure 21. The $z$-components of the Eulerian streaming velocity, $v_2^{z}$, and of the average mass transport velocity, $v_2^{{M} z}$, in air, at $r = 0$ and $z = \lambda _{{R}} / 8$, depending on the normalized tube radius $\varXi = a / \delta$, for $f = 100\ \textrm {kHz}$ and $p_{{a}} = 1\ \textrm {kPa}$. The critical ratios $\varXi _{{S}}$ and $\varXi _{{S}}^{{M}}$ are defined as the values of $\varXi$ at which $v_2^z$ and $v_2^{{M} z}$, respectively, change direction. The velocity magnitude (S. & M.) calculated with the model of Schuster & Matz (1940) is given for reference (see (G2) in appendix G).

Figure 22

Figure 22. Analysis of the convergence of different parts of the solution with respect to the summation index $i_{{max}}$, at which the infinite summations in (4.26), (4.27), (4.56), (4.57), (E1) and (E2) are truncated. Panels (a–d) show the convergence of the constants $C_1$ and $C_3$, and panels (e–h) the convergence of the $z$-component of the Eulerian streaming velocity, $v_2^z$, evaluated at different positions along $a/1000 \leq r \leq a-\delta /20$. The values of each quantity are normalized with the value at the maximal $i_{{max}}$ in the convergence study. (a) Re $\{C_1\}$. (b) Re $\{C_3\}$. (c) Im $\{C_1\}$. (d) Im $\{C_3\}$. (e–h) $v^z_2$ at the r-values indicated.

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