Acoustic radiation force of a Bessel beam on a porous sphere

The possibility of using acoustic Bessel beams to produce an axial pulling force on porous particles is examined in an exact manner. The mathematical model utilizes the appropriate partial-wave expansion method in spherical coordinates, while Biot's model is used to describe the wave motion within the poroelastic medium. Of particular interest here is to examine the feasibility of using Bessel beams for (a) acoustic manipulation of fine porous particles and (b) suppression of particle resonances. To verify the viability of the technique, the radiation force and scattering form-function are calculated for aluminum and silica foams at various porosities. Inspection of the results has shown that acoustic manipulation of low porosity (<0.3) spheres is similar to that of solid elastic spheres, but this behavior significantly changes at higher porosities. Results have also shown a strong correlation between the backscattered form-function and the regions of negative radiation force. It has also been observed that the high-order resonances of the particle can be effectively suppressed by choosing the beam conical angle such that the acoustic contribution from that particular mode vanishes. This investigation may be helpful in the development of acoustic tweezers for manipulation of micro-porous drug delivery carrier and contrast agents. (C) 2012 Acoustical Society of America. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4711010]