(469i) Numerical Simulation of Microbubble Streaming: The Effect of the Bubble Protruded Depth on Flow Patterns

Microbubble streaming is a phenomenon where a micro-sized bubble is vibrated by an acoustic pressure to induce vortex flows around the bubble. Application of acoustic bubble streaming in microfluidic devices has been studied for microscale mixing and particle separations. However, there have been little studies on numerical simulation of this phenomenon. Multiphase simulation of the microbubble has been performed to investigate the bubble dynamics and its effect on flow patterns in the microchannel. The numerical modeling results have been validated by experimental results. Results show that flow patterns in main channel have changed in different protrusion of the bubble. The effects of the size of the channel and surface tension on flow pattern were also investigated and will be discussed.