Measurement of microbubble-induced acoustic microstreaming using micro particle image velocimetry

Micro particle image velocimetry (PIV) measurements of the velocity fields around oscillating gas bubbles in microfluidic geometries were undertaken. Two sets of experiments were performed. The first measured the acoustic microstreaming around a gas bubble with a radius of 195 μm attached to a wall in a chamber of 30 mm× 30 mm× 0.66 mm. Under acoustic excitation, vigorous streaming in the form of a circulation around on the bubble was observed. The streaming flow was highest near the surface of the bubble with velocities around 1mm/s measured. The velocity magnitude decreased rapidly with increasing distance from the bubble. The velocity field determined by micro-PIV matched the streaklines of the fluorescent particles very well. The second set of experiments measured the streaming at the interface between a trapped air bubble and water inside a microchannel of cross section 100 μm × 90 μm. The streaming flow was limited to within a short distance from the interface and was observed as a looping flow, moving towards the interface from the top and being circulated back from the bottom of the channel. The characteristic streaming velocity was in the order of 100 μm/s.