Manipulation of particles by viscous streaming

This work, supported by the National Science Foundation (CMMI), is exploring innovative ways to manipulate small-sized particles immersed in fluids. We are investigating the use of viscous streaming, in which rapid oscillations of an object (in this case, a cylindrical probe) can create a weak steady flow from the non-linear interactions of the primary oscillatory flow. The streaming pattern around the probe can be used to manipulate and trap small particles, as the figure below shows.

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