Design and Investigation of Funnel for Acoustic Wave

Ultrasound sources of an appropriate size and controllable power are crucial for extensive investigations and applications, especially in exploratory experiments needing precise ultrasound stimulations. We designed an acoustic wave funnel (AWF) that changes the ultrasound source to a suitable size and acts as a small ultrasound source suited for widespread experiments and applications. The AWF consists of three parts—two cladded waveguides of different radii connected by a hollow cone. The larger waveguide has the same radius as the transducer, whereas the radius of the smaller waveguide is set for application requirements. Using the cone, the AWF squeezes the acoustic wave from the large transducer into the small output port and produces a small intense acoustic source. Both theoretical analyses and numerical simulations show that AWF works efficiently and exhibits a pretty amplification factor. The AWF is effective and practical in providing a miniaturized acoustic wave source with high intensity. These results indicate that, when requiring a miniaturized ultrasound source in experiments and applications, the AWF is a practical and reliable device.