Ultrasonic Acoustic Levitation

Ultrasonic Acoustic Levitation
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1 General Perspective
Ultrasound is sound waves with frequencies higher than the upper audible limit of
human hearing. Ultrasound is no different from 'normal' (audible) sound in its physical
properties, except that humans cannot hear it. This limit varies from person to person and
is approximately 20 kilohertz (20,000 hertz) in healthy, young adults. Ultrasound devices
operate with frequencies from 20 kHz up to several gigahertz.
Ultrasound is defined by the American National Standards Institute as "sound at
frequencies greater than 20 kHz." In air at atmospheric pressure, ultrasonic waves
have wavelengths of 1.9 cm or less.
Figure 1.1 Frequency ranges defined by ANSI.
Ultrasonic transducers are divided into three broad categories: transmitters, receivers and
transceivers. Transmitters convert electrical signals into ultrasound, receivers convert
ultrasound into electrical signals, and transceivers can both transmit and receive ultrasound.
In a similar way to radar and sonar, ultrasonic transducers are used in systems which
evaluate targets by interpreting the reflected signals. For example, by measuring the time
between sending a signal and receiving an echo the distance of an object can be calculated.
Passive ultrasonic sensors are basically microphones that detect ultrasonic noise that is
present under certain conditions.
Ultrasonic probes and ultrasonic baths apply ultrasonic energy to agitate particles in a wide
range of materials. Ultrasonic transducers convert AC into ultrasound, as well as the
reverse. It typically refers to piezoelectric transducers or capacitive transducers.
Piezoelectric crystals change size and shape when a voltage is applied; AC voltage makes
them oscillate at the same frequency and produces ultrasonic sound. Capacitive transducers
ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 1

use electrostatic fields between a conductive diaphragm and a backing plate. The beam
pattern of a transducer can be determined by the active transducer area and shape, the
ultrasound wavelength, and the sound velocity of the propagation medium.
The high-frequency vibrations that are the basis of ultrasonic NDT commonly occur as
either longitudinal waves (particle motion parallel to wave direction) or shear waves
(particle motion perpendicular to wave direction). All commonly used NDT transducers
generate longitudinal waves. Thickness gauging and straight beam flaw detection normally
use longitudinal waves, which are the easiest to create and propagate well through typical
engineering materials. Shear waves are used in most angle beam inspections of welds and
similar structures. Angle beam assemblies use refractive mode conversion to turn the
longitudinal waves generated by the transducer into shear waves, which have a shorter
wavelength than comparable longitudinal waves and are thus more sensitive to small
reflectors. Some immersion tests also utilize shear waves generated by mode conversion.
Other modes, such as surface waves and plate waves, also exist as well as contact
transducers that generate shear waves directly, but these are employed only in specialized
tests.
1.2 Principle of Acoustic Levitation

Acoustic levitation (or Acoustophoresis) is a method for suspending matter in a medium
by using acoustic radiation pressure from intense sound waves in the medium. Acoustic
levitation takes advantage of the properties of sound to cause solids, liquids and heavy
gases to float. The process can take place in normal or reduced gravity. In other words,
sound can levitate objects on Earth or in gas-filled enclosures in space. First, gravity is a
force that causes objects to attract one another. The simplest way to understand gravity is
through Newton's law of universal gravitation. This law states that every particle in the
universe attracts every other particle. The more massive an object is, the more strongly it
attracts other objects. The closer objects are, the more strongly they attract each other.
Second, air is a fluid that behaves essentially the same way liquids do. Like liquids, air is
made of microscopic particles that move in relation to one another. Air also moves like
water does - in fact, some aerodynamic tests take place underwater instead of in the air.
Third, the sound is a vibration that travels through a medium, like a gas, a liquid or a solid

object. A sound's source is an object that moves or changes shape very rapidly. Acoustic
levitation uses sound travelling through a fluid -usually a gas to balance the force of gravity.
On Earth, this can cause objects and materials to hover unsupported in the air. In space, it
can hold objects steady so they don't move or drift. The sound wave travels as the moving
molecules push and pull the molecules around them. Each molecule moves the one next to
it in turn.
Acoustic levitation is usually used for containerless processing which has become more
important of late due to the small size and resistance of microchips and other such things
in the industry. Containerless processing may also be used for applications requiring very-
high-purity materials or chemical reactions too rigorous to happen in a container. This
method is harder to control than other methods of containerless processing such as
electromagnetic levitation but has the advantage of being able to levitate non-conducting
materials.
Outer space environments can provide experimental conditions for high vacuum, non-
contact and microgravity testing, which is appropriate for material solidification to study
various kinds of fluid phenomenon. However, it is far too costly for most researchers to
perform space experiments. Consequently, many methods and technologies have been
developed to simulate the outer space environment on earth, including acoustic levitation,
electromagnetic levitation, aerodynamic levitation, electrostatic levitation, optical
levitation, magnetic levitation and superconducting magnetic levitation. Among these
methods and technologies, acoustic levitation has its own distinct advantages, such as good
stability, simple construction, no special requirements on the levitated materials, etc.
Therefore, research on acoustic levitation is attracting the interest of increasing numbers
of researchers.
Sound waves can levitate objects of different sizes and materials through air, water and
tissue. This allows us to manipulate cells, liquids, compounds or living things without
touching or contaminating them. However, acoustic levitation has required the targets to
be enclosed with acoustic elements or had limited maneuverability. Here we optimize the
phases used to drive an ultrasonic phased array and show that acoustic levitation can be
employed to translate, rotate and manipulate particles using even a single-sided emitter.

Figure 1.2 Levitating styrofoam ball through acoustic pressures produced by Transducers.
Acoustic structures shaped as tweezers, twisters or bottles emerge as the optimum
mechanisms for tractor beams or container less transportation. Single-beam levitation
could manipulate particles inside our body for applications in targeted drug delivery or
acoustically controlled micro-machines that do not interfere with magnetic resonance
imaging.
1.3 Motivation
The force generated due to acoustic radiation pressure is generally much larger than force
of electromagnetic radiation pressure which makes the study of these forces interesting and
noteworthy. Secondly, this phenomenon will allow successful containerless experiments.
The drawback of existing methods is that only one type of particle can be used.
Consequently, the behavior reported isn't accurate. This elimination of walls can provide
further insight by discarding supports in addition to reducing the interactions with other
particles (e.g. by handling a single bubble).
One way to achieve this airborne application is by employing a fascinating application of
acoustics, namely acoustic levitation which involves levitating objects using sound
radiation.

CHAPTER 2
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Realization of compact tractor beams using acoustic delay-lines
A method for generating stable ultrasonic levitation of physical matter in air using single
beams (also known as tractor beams) is demonstrated. The method encodes the required
phase modulation in passive unit cells into which the ultrasonic sources are mounted. These
unit cells use waveguides such as straight and coiled tubes to act as delay-lines. It is shown
that a static tractor beam can be generated using a single electrical driving signal, and a
tractor beam with one-dimensional movement along the propagation direction can be
created with two signals. The three devices used for this purpose are Coil, Sculpted surface
and Straight tube structures. When these three passive devices are powered with a single
driving signal, they generate a tractor beam. The three devices were able to levitate
expanded polystyrene (EPS) spheres of Rp =2 mm, which given a density ρEPS =29 kg/m3
represents a levitation force of 1µN. The three devices were excited using a single electrical
drive signal and consequently they produced a static trap.
2.2 Holographic acoustic elements for manipulation of levitated objects

Acoustic waves can exert radiation forces and form acoustic traps at points where these
forces converge permitting the levitation of particles of a wide range of materials and
sizes through air, water or biological tissues. This is of paramount importance for
crystallography, cell manipulation, lab-on-a-chip scenarios, biomaterials, containerless
transportation and even the levitation of living things. With previous acoustic levitators,
the trapped particles had to be enclosed by acoustic elements. Single-sided (or single-
beam) levitators only exerted lateral trapping forces, pulling forces or required the use
of an acoustic lens. Furthermore, translation and rotation of the traps were limited.
Single-axis levitators are a common arrangement for generating acoustic traps. They
consist of an acoustic transducer and a reflector or another transducer above it. This
generates a standing wave between the two elements and the nodes of the wave act as
trap. By changing the phase difference between the transducers, the traps move in a
single dimension without mechanical actuation. Various configurations for two-

dimensional manipulation have been explored, for example, a flat array of transducers
and a parallel reflector provides movement within the plane of the array. Alternatively,
an inward-facing circular array of transducers can translate and rotate a particle within
the circle. Three-dimensional (3D) translation is possible with four arrays placed
forming a square and recently with two opposed arrays.
Recent progress has seen custom-made piezoelectric elements being used to create traps
with a single-sided device (acoustic tweezers). However, these traps only exert lateral
forces and thus the particles have to rest on a surface. Pulling forces acting counter to
the propagation direction (tractor beams) have been measured in water using triangular-
shaped particles and in air using acoustic bottle beams. Full 3D trapping with a single-
sided device has been shown theoretically and a static underwater 3D trap has recently
been reported. Nonetheless, a physical acoustic lens was required, introducing
considerable energy loss and fixing the position of the trap to the focal point. Controlled
3D trapping, translation and rotation with a single-sided array would enable acoustic
tweezers to become the larger-scale counterparts of optical tweezers, opening up
applications in materials processing, micro-scale manufacturing and biomedicine.
2.3 LeviPath: Modular Acoustic Levitation for Path Visualizations

LeviPath is a modular system to levitate objects across 3D paths. It consists of two opposed
arrays of transducers that create a standing wave capable of suspending objects in midair.
Due to the two opposed arrays, the system is modular and can scale its interaction space
by joining several LeviPaths. Even with the use of 3d printers and laser cutters, physical
representations lack dynamicity to reflect changes in data. Shape-changing interfaces
create dynamic physical visualizations. Moreover, acoustic levitation offers additional
advantages like direct reach through interaction and the possibility of projecting on the
object without occlusions. LeviPath is our proposed modular system to levitate objects
across a path for representing functions, trajectories or other information.
An acoustic transducer is a device capable of producing a sound wave with a certain
amplitude and phase. By placing two transducers opposite to each other emitting with the
same amplitude and phase, objects can be trapped and levitated in the space between, at
the low pressure nodes of the standing wave. Furthermore, by changing the phase

difference between the transducers the objects are moved from one transducer to the other
LeviPath enables stable movement of multiple levitated objects in 3D space by
manipulating both the phase and amplitude of subsequent opposed transducers.
The maximum weight of the levitated object is dependent on the levitation strength. The
maximum size of the levitated object depends on the sound frequency; namely, the size
should be smaller than half of the wavelength.
2.4 Acoustic is used to generate the vortices

Acoustic vortices can transfer angular momentum and trap particles. It enables stable
trapping inside acoustic vortices by generating sequences of short-pulsed vortices. The
stable three-dimensional trapping of Rayleigh particles (i.e., radius smaller than the
wavelength a ˂˂ λ) was demonstrated using focused acoustic vortices. A stable trap is one
in which the forces are convergent on the particle and that the system is relatively
insensitive to small perturbations. Acoustic methods have distinct advantages over other
levitation methods, for example, optical, magnetic, or electrostatic levitation, particularly
in their ability to levitate a wider range of materials in different host fluids. Consequently,
acoustic trapping is a fundamental tool in chemistry, blood analysis, the study of organisms
in microgravity, control of non- material self-assembly and x-ray crystallography. At the
same time, contactless rotation has proven invaluable for understanding planetary
formation and acoustic streaming has been used to rotate microorganisms for microscopy.
Here it is shown that rapidly time-multiplexed acoustic vortices of opposite direction create
a time-averaged vortex, or virtual vortex, which can have trapping forces and that are
independently tunable. Acoustic virtual vortices are shown to be able to stably trap and
effectively control the rotational speeds of levitated samples. Additionally, a virtual vortex
of large aperture (i.e., high helicity) is shown to steadily trap particles with diameters larger
than the wavelength—a result which surpasses the classical Rayleigh scattering limit that
has previously restricted stable acoustic particle trapping. To ensure stability of the virtual
vortices, the switching rate must be tuned considering the dynamics of the system, which
depends critically on particle size. To avoid ejection of EPS particles of 1.6 mm diameter,
the switching speed needs to be faster than 1200 periods (30 ms), for particles of 2 mm
5000 periods (13 ms) and for particles of 3 mm 1000 periods (2 ms). Through analysis of

the particle dynamics simulations, the effect that dominated here is that, as particle size
increases, the tangential component of the force field also increases.
Figure 2.1 Simulated amplitude fields generated with the array of transducers. Arrows represent
the simulated forces.
2.5 Ultrasonic acoustic levitation for fast frame rate X-ray protein
crystallography at room temperature
Increasing the data acquisition rate of X-ray diffraction images for macromolecular crystals
at room temperature at synchrotrons has the potential to significantly accelerate both
structural analysis of biomolecules and structure. When a crystal is inside a levitating
liquid droplet, the internal circulation of the droplet caused by acoustic streaming
induces the rapid spinning and orbiting of the crystal. Consequently, careful alignment
of the X-ray beam to the crystal allows the acquisition of a dataset that encompasses
various crystal orientations in a short time. Although conventional oscillation methods
that use the serial variation of the crystal orientation are advantageous for rapid data
processing, the recently developed data processing methods for serial femtosecond
crystallography (SFX) can analyses a dataset that contains random crystal orientations
for indexing and solving the protein structure, as long as the entire variation of the
crystal orientation in the dataset leads to complete diffraction spots as shown below. The
addition of a sample injection mechanism to the acoustic levitator described in this study
might also be used to actualize fully automated X-ray diffraction experiments with a
high data acquisition rate and efficiency, thereby accelerating both the structural

analysis of biomolecules and structure-based drug development. However, it is crucial

to ensure that acoustic levitation is compatible with fragile macromolecular crystals.
2.6 Acoustic Tweezers

Acoustic tweezers is a technology that is able to control the movement of objects by sound
waves. In a standing acoustic field, objects will experience an acoustic radiation force that
moves the objects to special regions of the acoustic field. Depending on the properties
(density, compressibility) of the objects, they can be moved to either acoustic pressure
nodes (minimum pressure regions) or pressure antinodes (maximum pressure regions). As
a result, precise manipulation of objects using sound waves is feasible by controlling the
position of pressure nodes. Acoustic tweezers does not require expensive equipment and
complex experimental setups. More importantly, acoustic waves have been proven safe to
biological objects, making it an ideal tool for biomedical applications. In recent years,
acoustic tweezers has found many important applications in the area of manipulating sub-
millimeter objects, such as flow cytometry, cell separation, cell trapping, single-cell
manipulation, and nanomaterial manipulation. The use of one-dimensional standing waves
to manipulate small particles was reported for the first time in "Ultrasonic inspection of
fiber suspensions".
2.7 Conception
“Not being mathematicians, we did not seek elegant solutions but used what I call 'brute-
force inversion' to solve the problem.”
This involved simulating as many possible configurations of sound sources and drive signal
as possible and analyzing the results to see which would "trap" the object. Starting with
two side panels, either it may be another pair of transducers or may be a plate which could
reflect the waves. The pair of transducers were made 180° phase shifted so that standing
waves could be created and in flat plate it works similarly after waves make collision with
180° shift, so in both the cases the exact behavior was created.

CHAPTER 3
PROPOSED METHODOLOGY
Unless you live in a vacuum, which would be physically impossible since you couldn't
breathe, you're always in the presence of sound. Whether this is sound you can hear is
another question, given that as humans have a limited audible range. Sound is defined as a
pressure wave generated by vibrations, such as the rapid movement of your vocal cords,
which requires a medium to travel. Sound is commonly viewed as a longitudinal wave
whose oscillations, compression and expansion, are parallel to the direction the wave is
travelling. This is in contrast to transverse waves, in which oscillations are perpendicular
to the direction of travel. If you happen to have a slinky, lay it on the ground and push it
inwards. This will create a pulse, where the slinky is compact. This describes the motion
of a longitudinal wave. The propagation of sound can be thought of as a mass of particles,
where as they collide with one another, transfer momentum, causing the wave to travel.
Figure 3.1 Motion of longitudinal wave

Levitation is a process in which an upward force(s) counteracts downward gravitational
force of an object so that there is no physical contact between levitated object and ground
and object is found in a stable position. Levitation can be accomplished with five different
techniques, according to different levitating forces: magnetic, electric, optical,
aerodynamic and acoustic.
3.1 Problem Definition

Mechanisms like magnetic or electric levitation have certain limitations, though the biggest
problem they face is their inability to levitate object of any material. Electric levitation for
example is most achievable with conductive materials while magnet levitation technique
can only be used for materials which possess magnetic properties.

On the contemporary, acoustic levitation compared to other mentioned techniques has no

material limitation. Ultrasonic frequencies can be used to levitate objects, thus creating no
sound heard by the human ear.
Acoustic waves are mechanical waves that can only propagate through physical medium.
These waves scatter on obstacles and transfer some of their momentum on obstacles,
creating force. This force can also be seen as consequence of radiation pressure and is
relatively small but it can become sufficiently large to overcome gravity force.
Acoustic Levitation can be performed on any media that has the required weight and size
ratios given powerful enough sound wave emitters. Although its applications may probably
not be seen by the public any time soon as most uses are restricted to factories and research
laboratories, the advancements and products that can utilize the process of acoustic
levitation will certainly influence our lives.
3.2 Project Objectives

In this work, we propose to develop a prototype to levitate an object using ultrasonic
transducers. We will develop a hardware model to demonstrate the same. The work is
segmented into following steps:
1. Assembling of hardware components and testing of ultrasonic transducers:
We are going to use a total of 24 Ultrasonic Transducers. Here all the hardware
components i.e. DC-DC Adjustable Step-Up Converter, Arduino Nano and L298N
Dual Motor Driver are tested for their required functionality whereas ultrasonic
transducers have been tested for correct polarity and in-phase and out-phase response
using DSO and a reference transducer. The transducers is to be arranged in such a
manner that array of 12 ultrasonic transducers are connected so as to obtain in-phase
response while other 12 are arranged to get out-phase response.
2. Developing code and testing of hardware model:
Here we will develop a code to run the transducers by sending in a 40kHz signal using
Arduino Nano. The output of Arduino Nano will then be fed to L298N Dual Motor
Driver which will further drive the transducers to produce a constant 40kHz signal.
3. Levitation of particle (Styrofoam Ball):

On providing power supply to hardware components, all the components will comeinto
working and transducers will produce acoustic wave which will trap the particle in
stable acoustic field under acoustic radiation pressure to levitate the particle.
4. Demonstration of the particle movement in Up and Down direction:
Here we will demonstrate the particle movement in up and down direction using a
switch pad which will be designed to conclude our project.
3.3 Block Diagram
Figure 3.2 Block diagram representation of the project.
3.4 Our Approach

Acoustic waves can exert radiation forces and form acoustic traps at points where these
forces converge permitting the levitation of particles of a wide range of materials and sizes
through air, water or biological tissues. This is of paramount importance for
crystallography, cell manipulation, lab-on-a-chip scenarios, biomaterials, containerless

transportation and even the levitation of living things. Single-axis levitators are a common
arrangement for generating acoustic traps. They consist of an acoustic transducer arranged
in an array. These transducers are so managed and controlled that they produce ultrasonic
sound in a fixed proportion which is enough to lift particles in air. By changing the phase
difference between the transducers, the traps move in a single dimension without
mechanical actuation.
There are two primary types of acoustic levitation, standing wave acoustic levitation, and
near-field acoustic levitation. Here our prime concern is standing wave acoustic levitation.
3.4.1 Near Field Levitation

Near-field levitation (also known as squeeze film acoustic levitation) is one of two different
configurations of acoustic levitation. It can be observed by placing object with planar
surface just above a sound radiator (or transducer- converter of electric energy to sound
vibrations). Between radiator and object is a thin layer of air. Planar object acts as an
obstacle from which sound waves with high intensity emitted from radiator are reflected.
Distance between sound radiator and object is much smaller compared with wavelength of
sound λ (several µm compared with λ ∼ several mm). As a consequence standing waves
cannot be created.
Figure 3.3 Schematic plot of near-field acoustic levitation and the coordinate system.

3.4.2 Standing Wave Levitation

A common acoustic levitator usually includes a transducer and a reflector. The transducer,
or vibrating surface that produces the sound wave, similar to that of a loudspeaker,
produces a sound that reflects off the reflector. If the two are placed at the correct distance
and the initial wave has the desired frequency, a standing wave could be formed. In some
cases two waves are individually produced in order to make the standing wave. For acoustic
levitation, the orientation of the wave must be parallel to the force of gravity. Standing
waves, made up of regions of maximum and minimum pressure have the desirable
characteristics for acoustic levitation. A material at a nodal point, region of zero pressure,
has the ability to be levitated. Objects located at these unique points will experience a
downward force due to gravity but as it is pushed down will encounter atoms moving in
the opposite direction that provide an upward force. This keeps the object at a location
slightly below the nodal point.
Figure 3.4 Physics of acoustic levitation.

This configuration can be used to levitate objects (particles) with an effective diameter less
than the wavelength of sound. In this scheme, a sound source and above a solid reflector is
mounted which usually has concave shape to help focus acoustic waves. Waves are
reflected from reflector and interference emerges. As a result in space between radiator and
reflector a standing wave is created with so called nodes and anti-nodes (troughs and
crests). Levitating force can be considered as consequence of acoustic radiation pressure.

3.4.3 Acoustic Radiation Force:

When a particle is suspended in the field of a sound wave, a so-called acoustic radiation
force, which arises from the scattering of the acoustic waves on the particle, will exert on
the particle. The studies of acoustic radiation forces on suspended particles have a long
history. The force was first modelled and analyzed for incompressible particles in an ideal
fluid by King in 1934. Yosioka and Kawasima calculated the acoustic radiation force on
compressible particles in a plane wave field in 1955. Gorkov summarized the previous
work and proposed equations to determine the average force acting on a particle in an
arbitrary acoustical field when its size is much smaller than the wavelength of the
sound. Recently, Bruus revisited the problem and gave detailed derivation for the acoustic
radiation force.
3.4.4 Secondary Acoustic Forces

When multiple particles in a suspension are exposed to a standing wave field, they will not
only experience acoustic radiation force, but also secondary acoustic forces caused by
waves scattered by particles. The interparticle forces are sometimes called Bjerknes forces.
3.4.5 Acoustic Streaming

Acoustic streaming is a steady flow generated by a nonlinear effect in an acoustic field.
Depending on the mechanisms, the acoustic streaming can be categorized into two general
types, Eckert streaming and Rayleigh streaming. Eckert streaming is driven by a time-
average momentum flux created when high amplitude acoustic wave propagates and
attenuates in fluid. Rayleigh streaming, also called “boundary driven streaming”, is forced
by a shear viscosity close to a solid boundary. Both of the driven mechanisms come from
a time-average nonlinear effect. Regarding to the nonlinearity of acoustic streaming, a so-
called perturbation approach is used to analyze this phenomenon.
The motion of a suspended particle whose gravity is balanced by the buoyance force in an
acoustic field is determined by two forces: the acoustic radiation force and Stokes drag
force.

3.5 Acoustic Levitation Working

Acoustic levitation uses sound traveling through a fluid, usually a gas, to balance the force
of gravity. On Earth, this can cause objects and materials to hover unsupported in the air.
In space, it can hold objects steady so they don't move or drift. A basic acoustic levitator
has two main parts- a transducer, which is a vibrating surface that makes sound, and
a reflector. Often, the transducer and reflector have concave surfaces to help focus the
sound. A sound wave travels away from the transducer and bounces off the reflector. Three
basic properties of this traveling, reflecting wave help it to suspend objects in midair.
First, the wave, like all sound, is a longitudinal pressure wave. In a longitudinal wave,
movement of the points in the wave is parallel to the direction the wave travels. It's the
kind of motion you'd see if you pushed and pulled one end of a stretched Slinky. Most
illustrations, though, depict sound as a transverse wave, which is what you would see if
you rapidly moved one end of the Slinky up and down. This is simply because transverse
waves are easier to visualize than longitudinal waves.
Second, the wave can bounce off of surfaces. It follows the law of reflection, which states
that the angle of incidence the angle at which something strikes a surface equals the angle
of reflection the angle at which it leaves the surface. In other words, a sound wave bounces
off a surface at the same angle at which it hits the surface. A sound wave that hits a surface
head-on at a 90 degree angle will reflect straight back off at the same angle. The easiest
way to understand wave reflection is to imagine a Slinky that is attached to a surface at one
end. If you picked up the free end of the Slinky and moved it rapidly up and then down, a
wave would travel the length of the spring. Once it reached the fixed end of the spring, it
would reflect off of the surface and travel back toward you. The same thing happens if you
push and pull one end of the spring, creating a longitudinal wave.
Finally, when a sound wave reflects off of a surface, the interaction between its
compressions and rarefactions causes interference. Compressions that meet other
compressions amplify one another, and compressions that meet rarefactions balance one
another out. Sometimes, the reflection and interference can combine to create a standing
wave. Standing waves appear to shift back and forth or vibrate in segments rather than
travel from place to place. This illusion of stillness is what gives standing waves their name.

Figure 3.5 Physics of acoustic levitation.

Standing sound waves have defined nodes, or areas of minimum pressure, and antinodes,
or areas of maximum pressure. A standing wave's nodes are at the heart of acoustic
levitation. Imagine a river with rocks and rapids. The water is calm in some parts of the
river, and it is turbulent in others. Floating debris and foam collect in calm portions of the
river. In order for a floating object to stay still in a fast-moving part of the river, it would
need to be anchored or propelled against the flow of the water. This is essentially what an
acoustic levitator does, using sound moving through a gas in place of water.
By placing a reflector the right distance away from a transducer, the acoustic levitator
creates a standing wave. When the orientation of the wave is parallel to the pull of gravity,
portions of the standing wave have a constant downward pressure and others have a
constant upward pressure. The nodes have very little pressure.
In space, where there is little gravity, floating particles collect in the standing wave's nodes,
which are calm and still. On Earth, objects collect just below the nodes, where the acoustic

radiation pressure, or the amount of pressure that a sound wave can exert on a surface,
balances the pull of gravity.
Ordinary standing waves can be relatively powerful. Ordinary sound waves are limited by
their linear nature. Increasing the amplitude of the wave causes the sound to be louder, but
it doesn't affect the shape of the wave form or cause it to be much more physically powerful.
However, extremely intense sounds -- like sounds that are physically painful to human ears
-- are usually nonlinear. They can cause disproportionately large responses in the
substances they travel through. Some nonlinear affects include:
 Distorted wave forms,
 Shock waves, like sonic booms,
 Acoustic streaming, or the constant flow of the fluid the wave travels through and
 Acoustic saturation, or the point at which the matter can no longer absorb any more
energy from the sound wave.
Nonlinear acoustics is a complex field, and the physical phenomena that cause these effects
can be difficult to understand. But in general, nonlinear affects can combine to make an
intense sound far more powerful than a quieter one. It is because of these affects that a
wave's acoustic radiation pressure can become strong enough to balance the pull of gravity.
Intense sound is central to acoustic levitation -- the transducers in many levitators produce
sounds in excess of 150 decibels (dB). Ordinary conversation is about 60 dB, and a loud
nightclub is closer to 110 dB.
3.6 Hardware and Software Specifications

3.6.1 Arduino Nano
The Arduino Nano is a small, complete, and breadboard-friendly board based on the
ATmega328 (Arduino Nano 3.x). It has more or less the same functionality of the Arduino
Duemilanove, but in a different package. It lacks only a DC power jack, and works with a
Mini-B USB cable instead of a standard one.
Table 3.1 Arduino Nano Specifications

Microcontroller ATmega328
Architecture AVR

Operating 5V
Voltage
Flash Memory 32 KB of which 2 KB used by bootloader
SRAM 2 KB
Clock Speed 16 MHz
Analog I/O 8
Pins
EEPROM 1 KB
DC Current per 40 mA (I/O Pins)
I/O Pins
Input Voltage 7-12 V
Digital I/O Pins 22
PWM Output 6
Power 19 mA
Consumption
PCB Size 18 x 45 mm
Weight 7g
Figure 3.6 Arduino Nano Pinout.
3.6.2 Ultrasonic Transducers (16mm 40kHz)

An ultrasonic transducer is a device used to convert some other type of energy into an
ultrasonic vibration. There are several basic types, classified by the energy source and by
the medium into which the waves are being generated. Mechanical devices include gas-
driven, or pneumatic, transducers such as whistles as well as liquid-driven transducers such
as hydrodynamic oscillators and vibrating blades. These devices, limited to low ultrasonic
frequencies, have a number of industrial applications, including drying, ultrasonic

cleaning, and injection of fuel oil into burners. Electromechanical transducers are far more
versatile and include piezoelectric and magnetostrictive devices.
By far the most popular and versatile type of ultrasonic transducer is the piezoelectric
crystal, which converts an oscillating electric field applied to the crystal into a mechanical
vibration. Piezoelectric crystals include quartz, Rochelle salt, and certain types of
ceramic. Piezoelectric transducers are readily employed over the entire frequency range
and at all output levels. Particular shapes can be chosen for particular applications. For
example, a disc shape provides a plane ultrasonic wave, while curving the radiating surface
in a slightly concave or bowl shape creates an ultrasonic wave that will focus at a specific
point.
Piezoelectric and magnetostrictive transducers also are employed as ultrasonic receivers,
picking up an ultrasonic vibration and converting it into an electrical oscillation.
Ultrasonic transducers are divided into three broad categories: transmitters, receivers and
transceivers. Transmitters convert electrical signals into ultrasound, receivers convert
ultrasound into electrical signals, and transceivers can both transmit and receive ultrasound.
Table 3.2 Ultrasonic Transducer Specifications
Item Transmitter Receiver Note
Center frequency 40.0±1.0KHz
SPL ≥110dB ------- 0dB=0.0002μbar
Sensitivity ------- ≥-67dB 0dB=1volt/μbar
Directivity 60° -6dB typical
Capacitance 2000±30%pF
Driving Voltage ≤30Vrms
Operating Temperature -20~+70℃
Storage Temperature -30~+80℃

Figure 3.7 Ultrasonic transducer pair.
3.6.3 L298N Dual Motor Drive Board

The L298 is an integrated monolithic circuit in a 15-lead Multiwatt and PowerSO20
packages. It is a high voltage, high current dual full-bridge driver designed to accept
standard TTL logic levels and drive inductive loads such as relays, solenoids, DC and
stepping motors. Two enable inputs are provided to enable or disable the device
independently of the input signals. The emitters of the lower transistors of each bridge are
connected together and the corresponding external terminal can be used for the connection
of an external sensing resistor. An additional supply input is provided so that the logic
works at a lower voltage.
 Chip: L298N
 Logic voltage: 5V
 Logic current 0mA-36mA
 Storage Temperature: -20℃ to +135℃
 Operating mode: H-bridge driver (dual)
 Drive voltage: 5V-35V
 Drive current: 2A (MAX single bridge)
 Maximum power: 25W
 Dimensions: 43x43x27mm

Figure 3.8 L298 motor driver module.
3.6.4 DC-DC Adjustable Step-Up Converter

A DC-to-DC converter is an electronic circuit or electromechanical device that converts a
source of direct current (DC) from one voltage level to another. It is a type of electric
power converter. Power levels range from very low (small batteries) to very high (high-
voltage power transmission).
DC to DC converters are used in portable electronic devices such as cellular
phones and laptop computers, which are supplied with power from batteries primarily.
Such electronic devices often contain several sub-circuits, each with its own voltage level
requirement different from that supplied by the battery or an external supply (sometimes
higher or lower than the supply voltage). Additionally, the battery voltage declines as its
stored energy is drained. Switched DC to DC converters offer a method to increase voltage
from a partially lowered battery voltage thereby saving space instead of using multiple
batteries to accomplish the same thing.
Practical electronic converters use switching techniques. Switched-mode DC-to-DC
converters convert one DC voltage level to another, which may be higher or lower, by
storing the input energy temporarily and then releasing that energy to the output at a
different voltage. The storage may be in either magnetic field storage components

(inductors, transformers) or electric field storage components (capacitors). This conversion

method can increase or decrease voltage. Switching conversion is more power efficient
(often 75% to 98%) than linear voltage regulation, which dissipates unwanted power as
heat. Fast semiconductor device rise and fall times are required for efficiency; however,
these fast transitions combine with layout parasitic effects to make circuit design
challenging.[5] The higher efficiency of a switched-mode converter reduces the heatsinking
needed, and increases battery endurance of portable equipment.
 It is a high efficiency non-isolated boost module, the output voltage can't be less than
input voltage
 Input Voltage: DC 3-34V
 Output Voltage: DC 4-35V(continuously adjustable)
 Input current: 3A(max)
 Output current: 25A(max)
 Connection: welding, pin can be soldered directly to the PCB
Figure 3.9 DC-DC step-up converter.
3.7 Project Implementation

3.7.1 Hardware Implementation
The complete hardware model has been implemented by putting together four modules:

1. First we have tested all the components namely DC-DC step-up converter, Arduino
Nano and L298N motor driver board. Initially all the components were powered up and
output of each component was set to the required value. Then ultrasonic transducer are
tested for their in-phase and out-phase response using a reference transducer, function
generator and DSO. Also the ultrasonic transducers are tested for their correct polarity
so as to decide which terminal is supply terminal and which one is the ground. All the
transducers have been mounted on a bowl.
DC-DC Step-Up Converter Operation: The key principle that drives the boost
converter is the tendency of an inductor to resist changes in current by creating and
destroying a magnetic field. In a boost converter, the output voltage is always higher
than the input voltage.
Figure 3.10 Schematic of DC-DC step-up converter.

The basic principle of a Boost converter consists of 2 distinct states (see figure 2):
 in the On-state, the switch S (see figure 3.10) is closed, resulting in an increase in the
inductor current;
 in the Off-state, the switch is open and the only path offered to inductor current is
through the flyback diode D1 the capacitor C1 and the load R. This results in
transferring the energy accumulated during the On-state into the capacitor.
 The input current is the same as the inductor current.
If the switch is cycled fast enough, the inductor will not discharge fully in between
charging stages, and the load will always see a voltage greater than that of the input
source alone when the switch is opened. Also while the switch is opened, the capacitor
in parallel with the load is charged to this combined voltage. When the switch is then
closed and the right hand side is shorted out from the left hand side, the capacitor is

therefore able to provide the voltage and energy to the load. During this time, the
blocking diode prevents the capacitor from discharging through the switch. The switch
must of course be opened again fast enough to prevent the capacitor from discharging
too much.
L298N Motor Driver Operation: H-Bridges are typically used in controlling motors
speed and direction, but can be used for other purposes such as driving the brightness
of certain lighting projects such as high powered LED arrays. An H-Bridge is a circuit
that can drive a current in either polarity and be controlled by Pulse Width Modulation
(PWM). This feature of dual H-bridge motor driver board is used in this project to drive
the transducers in the required manner that is for obtaining in-phase and out-phase
signal. The transducers are connected output ports to achieve desired phase response.
Figure 3.11 L298N H-Bridge pinout.

2. In this module we have developed code for Arduino Nano which generates a 40kHz
signal. The PWM pins of Arduino Nano are used to carry the generated signal to L298N
Motor Driver board. The PWM output is connected to Enable pins of motor driver chip.
Thus, dual polarity signal are obtained at the output which in turn is fed to the
transducers.
3. In third module we had checked all the connections and finally provided adequate
power supply to all the components by short circuiting all the supply terminals at a

common point. The supply is obtained using USB TTL which here is used solely to
power-up devices using laptop or powerbank. On providing supply the transducers
generate the in-phase and out-phase signals which interfere at some point to create an
acoustic field where the particle is trapped. At this point the particle is clearly seen to
be levitating in air.
4. In the fourth and final module of our project we have designed a switch pad to control
the particle motion in one-dimension i.e. in vertical direction. The switch pad is
designed using a Zero PCB. We have used three 4 pin push button switches one for
each of the operation viz. reset, up and down motion. Two legs each of the push button
switch are shorted together for common ground while the remaining legs are connected
so as to perform the required function. For Reset we have connected the switch to D4
pin of Nano, for Up motion connection is made to D2 and for Down motion we connect
the terminal to D3 pin. On successful implementation of the switch pad we again
power-up all the devices. It is observed that the levitating particle can now be controlled
in the acoustic field using the switches. On pressing Reset button the initial voltage is
returned to the transducers while when Up button is pressed the voltage is increased to
a slightly greater value and when Down button is pushed then the voltage reduces back
to normal level. Thus, this way the particle is moved in the field in up and down
direction. It is to be noted here that the particle moves from stable point to another
whenever any of the button is pushed so that the particle always experiences the
acoustic field but of varying strength.
3.7.2 Software Implementation

We have used Arduino IDE in our project to develop and implement the code to run the
motor driver board using PWM pins which further drives the array of ultrasonic
transducers.
Arduino is an open-source platform used for building electronics projects. Arduino consists
of both a physical programmable circuit board (often referred to as a microcontroller) and
a piece of software, or IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that runs on your
computer, used to write and upload computer code to the physical board. In this project the
Arduino board used is ‘Arduino Nano’. The Arduino platform has become quite popular

with people just starting out with electronics, and for good reason. Unlike most previous
programmable circuit boards, the Arduino does not need a separate piece of hardware
(called a programmer) in order to load new code onto the board – you can simply use a
USB cable. Additionally, the Arduino IDE uses a simplified version of C++, making it
easier to learn to program. Finally, Arduino provides a standard form factor that breaks out
the functions of the micro-controller into a more accessible package.
The code developed for running ultrasonic transducers involves the following steps:
First, a PWM signal is generated. Pulse-width modulation (PWM) can be implemented on
the Arduino in several ways. A PWM signal is a digital square wave, where the frequency
is constant, but that fraction of the time the signal is on (the duty cycle) can be varied
between 0 and 1. Simple PWM signal generation method uses ‘analogWrite’. One can
"manually" implement PWM on any pin by repeatedly turning the pin on and off for the
desired times. This technique has the advantage that it can use any digital output pin.
Another method which has been used in this project is using the ATmega PWM registers
directly. The ATmega328P has three timers known as Timer 0, Timer 1, and Timer 2. Each
timer has two output compare registers that control the PWM width for the timer's two
outputs: when the timer reaches the compare register value, the corresponding output is
toggled. The two outputs for each timer will normally have the same frequency, but can
have different duty cycles (depending on the respective output compare register). Each of
the timers has a prescaler that generates the timer clock by dividing the system clock by a
prescale factor such as 1, 8, 64, 256, or 1024. The Arduino has a system clock of 16MHz
and the timer clock frequency will be the system clock frequency divided by the prescale
factor. Timer 2 has a different set of prescale values from the other timers.
The timers are complicated by several different modes. The main PWM modes are "Fast
PWM" and "Phase-correct PWM". The timer can either run from 0 to 255, or from 0 to a
fixed value. Each output can also be inverted. The timers can also generate interrupts on
overflow and/or match against either output compare register. Several registers are used to
control each timer. The Timer/Counter Control Registers TCCRnA and TCCRnB hold the
main control bits for the timer. These registers hold several groups of bits:
 Waveform Generation Mode bits (WGM): these control the overall mode of the timer.
 Clock Select bits (CS): these control the clock prescaler.

 Compare Match Output A Mode bits (COMnA): these enable/disable/invert output A

 Compare Match Output B Mode bits (COMnB): these enable/disable/invert output B
The Output Compare Registers OCRnA and OCRnB set the levels at which outputs A and
B will be affected. When the timer value matches the register value, the corresponding
output will be modified as specified by the mode. Fast PWM mode e.g.
pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
pinMode(11, OUTPUT);
TCCR2A = _BV(COM2A1) | _BV(COM2B1) | _BV(WGM21) | _BV(WGM20);
TCCR2B = _BV(CS22);
OCR2A = 180;
OCR2B = 50;
Second, generating 40kHz signal. Using the timer registers we have generated a 40kHz
square wave so that our ultrasonic transducers produce a constant 40kHz acoustic signals.
pinMode(10, OUTPUT);
TCCR1A = bit (WGM10) | bit (WGM11) | bit (COM1B1);
TCCR1B = bit (WGM12) | bit (WGM13) | bit (CS10);
OCR1A = (F_CPU / 40000L) - 1;
OCR1B = (F_CPU / 40000L) / 2;
Third, writing code for switch pad to control the particle motion in up and down direction.
bool anyButtonPressed;
bool buttonPressed[N_BUTTONS];
short buttonCounter = 0;
Here the ‘buttonPressed’ function is defined as Boolean. Thus, whenever the push button
switch is pressed it means logic ‘1’ or true otherwise it is logic ‘0’ or false. Hence, the
switch pad becomes operational.

CHAPTER 4
RESULT ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Driver motor output
The Dual Motor Controller L298n is an integrated monolithic circuit in a 15- lead
Multiwatt and PowerSO20 packages. It is a high voltage, high current dual full-bridge
driver designed to accept standard TTL logic levels and is provided by microcontroller
and drive inductive loads can be controlled both ways.
Figure 4.1 In-phase trigger.
Figure 4.2 Out-phase trigger.

4.2 Transducers Output

The output of motor driver acts as an Input for the transducers. In the model proposed the
transducers used are aligned in 12:12 ratio with one half in phase and other half out of
phase creating perfect symmetry for the particle to levitate. The ratio of transducers can be
increased and can be decreased too depending on the amount of push and trap force
required to perfectly levitate the particle.
4.2.1 In-Phase
Decision of in-phase is established with the pulse triggered by the driver, probably the crust
and trough of the waveform perfectly matched with the waveform produced by the testing
transducer.
Figure 4.3 In-phase wavform.
4.2.2 Out-Phase
Figure 4.4 Out-phase waveform.

Similary the decision for out-phase is established when there is a difference of 180° in the
output wave produced with respect to testing transducer.
4.3 Switch pad output

Basically the switchpad is helpful in providing translatery motion of the particle. The
internal structure of switchpad offers a support to provide sufficient thrust to particle so as
to move it in up, down and standby position. The three switches make a short circut
connetion with the ground of the arduino.
Figure 4.5 Designed Switch Pad.
Figure 4.6 The Levitating Model.

4.4 Advantages
Acoustic levitation is usually used for containerless processing which has become more
important of late due to the small size and resistance of microchips and other such things
in industry. Containerless processing may also be used for applications requiring very-
high-purity materials or chemical reactions too rigorous to happen in a container. This
method is harder to control than other methods of containerless processing such as
electromagnetic levitation but has the advantage of being able to levitate non-conducting
materials.
Unlike magnetic levitation, acoustic levitation can be used to levitate any object. It is
well known that the contactless methods of handling matters are typically based on
electromagnetic principles but, of course, limited by the inherent material properties.
Acoustic levitation, on the other hand, is both contact-free and material- independent
method and requires minimum effort to prepare samples. Unlike magnetic levitation,
acoustic method would apply to any materials, not necessarily magnetic. The contactless
method of moving objects by acoustic levitation could have useful implications in chemical
engineering and biotechnology where any contact with surfaces can spoil the chemical
substances and interfere with the reaction processes. However, a basic limitation of the
technique lies with the size of the object which has to be half the wavelength of the sound
wave used.
If we insert an object much smaller than the wavelength in the acoustic field, there is a
phenomenon, called acoustic radiation force, that attracts the small object to a pressure
node of the standing wave. Therefore, a small object can be levitated at a pressure node of
the standing wave.
The acoustic levitation of small objects is well known among researchers, and it can be
achieved by producing an acoustic standing wave between a sound emitter and a reflector
If we insert an object much smaller than the wavelength in the acoustic field, there is a
phenomenon, called acoustic radiation force, that attracts the small object to a pressure
node of the standing wave. Therefore, a small object can be levitated at a pressure node of
the standing wave.

4.5 Applications
4.5.1 High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)
HIFU is a breakthrough therapeutic technique used to treat tumors. The principle of this
noninvasive, targeted treatment is much like that of focusing sunlight through a lens, using
an ultrasonic transducer like a convex lens to concentrate ultrasound into a small focal
region concentrates ultrasonic energy into a focal region by using an ultrasonic transducer,
which converts electrical signals into sound waves, to raise the temperature within the
tumor to above 65˚C, killing cells without damaging the surrounding tissue. This
therapeutic precision is dependent on the size of the focal region and the intensity of
focused ultrasound generated by the transducer.
The size of the focal region generated by the spherical cavity transducer was about 50 to
70 percent of the millimeter-scale wavelength, and the pressure amplitude gain over three
orders of magnitude. In contrast, the size of the focal region generated by a traditional
concave spherical transducer is about 10 times the wavelength, and the pressure amplitude
gain is generally lower than 200. The level of intensity channeled through a tighter focal
region produced by the new transducer design could be a significant improvement in HIFU
for targeted cancer treatments.
The size of the focal region generated by conventional spherical concave transducers is
restricted by acoustic diffraction to usually the order of the ultrasound wavelength, but this
does not meet the needs of more sophisticated treatments. Traditional acoustic simulation
approaches are generally based on the numerical solutions of wave equations. These
approaches can provide approximate simulations of the acoustic field, but do not
incorporate the physical flow details, and cannot easily handle boundaries with complex
geometric structure. In addition, these traditional methods are computationally expensive.
The potential applications are not limited to just HIFU therapy. For example, some unique
physical phenomena could be observed and investigated under the extreme pressure
conditions provided by this device.
4.5.2 Detection of rare cancer cells

Cancer cells often break free from their original locations and circulate through the
bloodstream, allowing them to form new tumors elsewhere in the body. Detecting these

cells could give doctors a new way to predict whether patients’ tumors will metastasize, or
monitor how they are responding to treatment, but finding these extremely rare cells has
proven challenging because there might be only one to 10 such cells in a 1-milliliter sample
of a patient’s blood.
Most existing cell-sorting technologies require tagging cells with chemicals or exposing
them to strong mechanical forces that may damage them. To sort cells using sound waves,
which offer a gentler alternative, the researchers built microfluidic devices with two
acoustic transducers, which produce sound waves, on either side of a microchannel. When
the two waves meet, they combine to form a standing wave (a wave that remains in constant
position). This wave produces pressure nodes, or lines of low pressure.
Because the sound waves are tilted so they run across the microchannel at an angle, each
cell encounters several pressure nodes as it flows through the channel. As cells encounter
each node, they are pushed further to the side of the channel; the distance of cell movement
depends on their size and other properties, such as compressibility.
In the previous study, the researchers were able to separate cancer cells from red and white
blood cells, but the sample flow rate through the device was only 1 to 2 microliters per
minute. At that rate, it would take more than 50 hours to process a typical patient sample
of about 6 milliliters.
The new version of the device has a working flow rate about 20 times faster, allowing it to
process a patient sample in about five hours.
Figure 4.7 Cell separation

4.5.3 Cell sorting using sound waves

Separating cells with sound offers a gentler alternative to existing cell-sorting technologies,
which require tagging the cells with chemicals or exposing them to stronger mechanical
forces that may damage them.
Acoustic tweezers can be used in separation of lipid particles from erythrocytes. During
cardiac surgery supported by a heart-lung machine a massive embolization of lipid particles
occurs in the brain when shed blood is returned to a patient via a filter. The lipid particles
are derived from triglycerides leaking from fat cells during surgery in adipose tissue. The
embolization is associated with cognitive dysfunction observed after surgery. The
techniques currently available for blood wash do not meet the demand to remove these
lipid particles.
The technology presented in this communication offers a solution to the embolization
problem by employing the possibility of discriminating erythrocytes from lipid particles.
In addition, when fully developed and implemented clinically, it reduces the demand for
allogenic blood and reduces or eliminates blood transfusion related incompatibilities.
Acoustic tweezers have been developed to achieve 3D focusing of cells/particles in
microfluidics.
4.5.4 Noninvasive cell trapping and patterning

Acoustic Levitation can be used for noncontact trapping and retention of cells in
microfluidic networks by means of acoustic standing wave forces for perfusion-based cell
handling and assaying.
4.5.5 Manipulation of single cell, particle, or organism

Manipulating single cells is important to many biological studies, such as in controlling the
cellular microenvironment and isolating specific cells of interest. Acoustic tweezers has
been demonstrated to manipulate each individual cell with micrometer-level resolution.
Cells generally have a diameter of 10–20 μm. To meet the resolution requirements of
manipulating single cells, short-wavelength acoustic waves should be employed. In this

case, surface acoustic wave (SAW) is a more favored option than bulk acoustic wave
(BAW) as it allows using shorter-wavelength acoustic waves (normally less than 200 μm).
Acoustics can be used to manipulate single (bio) molecules such as DNA and proteins.
This method, which the inventors name Acoustic Force Spectroscopy, allows one to
measure the force response of single molecules. This is achieved by attaching small micro
spheres to the molecules at one side and attaching them to a surface at the other. By pushing
the micro spheres away from the surface with a standing acoustic wave the molecules are
effectively stretched out.
Patterning of nanowires in a controllable, tunable manner is important for the fabrication
of functional nano devices. Acoustic tweezers provide a simple approach for tunable
nanowire patterning. This technique allows for the construction of large-scale nanowire
arrays with well-controlled patterning geometry and spacing.
4.7 Limitations
 A sound wave travels in the form of a longitudinal wave and it requires a
material medium for its propagation. So it can only be used where there is propagation
medium, not in space.
 Acoustic levitator presented here is applicable for only those particles or objects whose
size (radius) is much less than the wavelength of acoustic wavethat is this model is not
applicable for macro particles.
 A well-known effect of Ultrasound is cavitation. Cavitations are small bubbles of gas
that are released upon exposure to extreme negative pressure. These bubbles can cause
cells or even tissues to rupture. This effect is used in a form of non-invasive liposuction,
in which adipocytes are burst using ultrasound waves. Although ultrasound cannot be
heard by humans, at high decibels it can still cause direct damage to human ears.
Ultrasound in excess of 120 dB may cause hearing damage.

CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
A contactless ultrasonic acoustic levitation has been presented in this project, with the aim
to demonstrate stable levitation positions for particles. The results may have theoretical as
well as practical applications. Thus, the results are applicable, where full control of stable
levitation is crucial. This could be relevant in micro-gravitational experiments or in
material processing. All the project objectives have been successfully achieved as well as
all the modules are implemented that is:
1. We have successfully levitated the Styrofoam ball in the stable acoustic field.
2. Linear vertical translation of particle is successfully performed using switch pad.
This configuration is used to levitate the particle in air by controlling the phase of the
ultrasonic transducers. Though functioning near-field acoustic levitation has been achieved
in past but it failed to stabilize the particle in acoustic field. As an alternative approach we
have demonstrated acoustic levitation of particle using standing wave acoustic levitation.
A different configuration of acoustic levitation system could have been used, which can
levitate planar objects with dimensions much larger than the sound wavelength at a position
much higher than presented acoustic levitation system.
Nonetheless, the system or model described and made in this project can very easily levitate
a particle. Even the proposed model can levitate multiple particles at a time, thus,
showcasing selective as well as collective manipulation of similar particles. Various
simulation results are presented which show good agreement with the experiment result.
The simulation results give good insights of the influences of different parameters on the
levitation force, such as frequency and vibration models.
The described system has verified the theory and simulations using a series of experiments
that was presented.

CHAPTER 6
FUTURE SCOPE
Based on the research and planning that went into this project, the best next step in
developing acoustic levitation is to establish which types of materials and models of
equipment are best to build an acoustic levitator. More research needs to be conducted
before acoustic levitation can be fully utilized for scientific, medicinal, and commercial
use. Following are some future aspects of the presented project:
1. Acoustic levitation could play an important role in the future to analyze and control
liquid in space, as well as helping researchers to handle extremely hot or caustic
materials on Earth.
2. Acoustic levitation works best when the sound waves are emitted from the transducer
in a cone or a funnel shape, so transducers should be designed keeping this in mind.
3. Acoustic levitation might also be an effective means of storing, transporting and using
chemicals too dangerous for standard containers or human contact. It could also be very
useful to materials engineers because some substances crystallize prematurely when
they come in contact with a container and to avoid contamination.
4. Acoustic levitation may become a valuable tool for astronauts conducting research in
the microgravity of outer space. Though the technology would not be useful in the
vacuum of space since the sound waves would have no medium through which to
travel, it could be utilized on the International Space Station and other spacecraft. It
would minimize the hassle of handling small quantities of dangerous materials in an
enclosed environment, and would help astronauts mimic earth, outer space, and other
conditions in one laboratory. Additionally, acoustic levitation’s ability to overcome
gravity would actually allow researchers to mimic space-like conditions on earth,
reducing the need for experiments to be sent out into space.
So, by far we have accomplished a lot in the field of acoustic levitation and various
advantages and applications mentioned are evident for the fact with many more to come.
As more research is conducted on what is specifically needed to use the technology, it will
become easier to master the fundamentals of acoustic levitation.

Ultrasonic Acoustic Levitation

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ultrasonic Acoustic Levitation

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ultrasonic Acoustic Levitation

Figure 1.1 Frequency ranges defined by ANSI.

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 1

1.2 Principle of Acoustic Levitation

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 2

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 3

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 4

2.2 Holographic acoustic elements for manipulation of levitated objects

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 5

2.3 LeviPath: Modular Acoustic Levitation for Path Visualizations

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 6

2.4 Acoustic is used to generate the vortices

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 7

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 8

analysis of biomolecules and structure-based drug development. However, it is crucial

2.6 Acoustic Tweezers

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 9

Figure 3.1 Motion of longitudinal wave

3.1 Problem Definition

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 10

On the contemporary, acoustic levitation compared to other mentioned techniques has no

3.2 Project Objectives

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 11

3.3 Block Diagram

Figure 3.2 Block diagram representation of the project.

3.4 Our Approach

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 12

3.4.1 Near Field Levitation

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 13

3.4.2 Standing Wave Levitation

Figure 3.4 Physics of acoustic levitation.

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 14

3.4.3 Acoustic Radiation Force:

3.4.4 Secondary Acoustic Forces

3.4.5 Acoustic Streaming

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 15

3.5 Acoustic Levitation Working

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 16

Figure 3.5 Physics of acoustic levitation.

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 17

3.6 Hardware and Software Specifications

Table 3.1 Arduino Nano Specifications

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 18

Figure 3.6 Arduino Nano Pinout.

3.6.2 Ultrasonic Transducers (16mm 40kHz)

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 19

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 20

Figure 3.7 Ultrasonic transducer pair.

3.6.3 L298N Dual Motor Drive Board

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 21

Figure 3.8 L298 motor driver module.

3.6.4 DC-DC Adjustable Step-Up Converter

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 22

(inductors, transformers) or electric field storage components (capacitors). This conversion

Figure 3.9 DC-DC step-up converter.

3.7 Project Implementation

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 23

Figure 3.10 Schematic of DC-DC step-up converter.

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 24

Figure 3.11 L298N H-Bridge pinout.

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 25

3.7.2 Software Implementation

ECE DEPARTMENT, SRMGPC, Lucknow 26