Stable Vortex Generation in Liquid Filled Wells by Mode Conversion of Surface Acoustic Waves

The formation of stable vortex flow pattern has been observed at liquid filled aluminum wells of 15 to 30 mm diameter when Lamb waves are excited on the bottom of the wells by piezoelectric transducers operated at a frequency of 1 MHz. The shape of the vortex pattern changed with the position of the transducer. Strong differences in mixing times were observed between water and ethanol when the filling level was changed and a remarkable reduction of mixing time was achieved by the addition of a small amount of detergent to water at small filling levels. Besides mixing of liquids thermal equilibration within a liquid volume was accelerated by acoustic streaming.