Case Study: SUNY Albany achieves improved acoustic streaming analysis with COMSOL Multiphysics

SUNY Albany boosts acoustic streaming with COMSOL simulations for microfluidics

The State University of New York (SUNY) Albany, in collaboration with SEMATECH, faced a challenge in mixing and pumping fluids within microfluidic devices used for sensors. To address this, they turned to Comsol and utilized its COMSOL Multiphysics software to simulate electrode configurations and the harmonic vibrations needed to generate surface acoustic waves as an alternative actuation method.

Using Comsol's simulation capabilities, the researchers modeled interdigitated transducers and the piezoelectric substrate to study factors affecting device optimization, such as resonant frequency and acoustic streaming response. The solution successfully confirmed that surface acoustic waves with greater vertical displacements produce higher streaming velocities, a result that was correlated with and supported by experimental measurements.

SUNY Albany