Robust acoustic wave manipulation of bubbly liquids

Experiments with water-air bubbly liquids when exposed to acoustic fields of frequency similar to 100 kHz and intensity below the cavitation threshold demonstrate that bubbles similar to 30 mu m in diameter can be pushed away from acoustic sources by acoustic radiation independently from the direction of gravity. This manifests formation and propagation of acoustically induced transparency waves (waves of the bubble volume fraction). In fact, this is a collective effect of bubbles, which can be described by a mathematical model of bubble self-organization in acoustic fields that matches well with our experiments. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.