Pumping by Two-frequency Steady Streaming: Impact of Amplitude Ratio and Phase

Abstract

The classical phenomenon of steady streaming around a circular cylinder oscillating with a single frequency results in a symmetric quadrupole-like flow structure. In [H.S.\ Lee, \textit{et al.}, J.\ Fluid Mech.\ 1038, A34 (2026)], we demonstrated using asymptotic analysis and numerical simulations that a cylinder vibrating with two frequencies yields asymmetrical steady streaming that pumps the fluid in one direction. The asymptotic expansion at small amplitude showed that pumping occurs at third order or higher depending on the frequency ratio, but the solutions are analytically intractable and the influence of key control parameters, like the amplitude ratio and phase difference, remained undetermined. Here, we analyze two-frequency steady streaming on an annular domain and reduce the equations from the asymptotic expansion to a series of boundary value problems of one spatial dimension, which can be numerically solved efficiently. For frequency ratio 2, we show that the net force on the cylinder is proportional to $\cos(ϕ- ϕ^*(\text{Re}))β/ (1+β^2)^{3/2}$, where $β$ is the amplitude ratio, $ϕ$ is the phase difference, Re is the Reynolds number, and $ϕ^*(\text{Re})$ is the phase that gives the largest force. To test whether the force on an enclosed annulus serves as a useful proxy for pumping in an open system, we also performed numerical simulations of a cylinder oscillating with two-frequencies in a rectangular channel. Our computations demonstrate that the net flux through the channel is directly proportional to the net force on the annulus over all parameter ranges tested. Finally, we discuss the implications for using two-frequency oscillations to pump fluid in lab-on-a-chip and other devices.