Ultrasonic manipulation - tweezers and tractor beams Seminar
- Time:
- 16:00
- Date:
- 18 October 2016
- Venue:
- Highfield Campus 13/3017
For more information regarding this seminar, please email Rameen Mustafa at R.Mustafa@soton.ac.uk .
Event details
Ultrasonic manipulation techniques such as acoustical tweezers and sonic tractor beams have attracted significant recent research interest. By carefully controlling the output of arrays of loudspeakers, objects can be either held in place, moved or rotated. An inverse problem is solved which shows that various distinct shapes of acoustic force fields work as tractor beams. The most versatile field resembles a pair of high intensity ultrasonic fingers. Acoustic vortices also work well and the objects are trapped at the vortex core. Applications at larger scales include container-less processing and kidney stone debris removal. At the microscopic scale applications include 3D tissue engineering as well as the assembly of engineering materials such as composites. No registration required
Speaker information
Bruce Drinkwater, Uni. Of Bristol. I was born in Hexham, England, in 1970. I received B.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College. Since 1996, I have worked as an academic in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Bristol. I was promoted to Professor of Ultrasonics in 2007 and now lead the Bristol Ultrasonics and NDT research group. My current research interests are divided between ultrasonic array imaging for non-destructive testing and acoustic radiation force devices for particle manipulation applications. My research has led to the successful commercialisation of an array wheel probe and the imaging techniques I helped develop are now widely used in industry. In 2015 I co-invented the world’s first stable ultrasonic tractor beam which was widely featured in the popular press. I am a passionate advocate of the importance of engineering and science to society.