Acoustic streaming in channel bifurcated by an elastic partition

Abstract

Fluid motion in a narrow channel partitioned along its long axis by a flexible membrane is examined. The enclosed fluid is excited by the time harmonic displacement in the channel cross-section. The acoustic streaming that ensues and its impact of microfluidic transport is of particular interest in this work. A three-dimensional regularized Stokeslet based analysis is presented for fluid motion in the low streaming Reynolds number regime. The effect of frequency modulation on fluid motion is examined.