Vibration characteristics of acoustically levitated object with rigid and elastic reflectors

Levitation stability is a crucial factor that influences acoustic levitation capability. We present two sample-including models for a single-axis acoustic levitator with either a rigid or elastic reflector. Numerical analysis shows that, with the rigid reflector, both the decay time from initial disturbance and the vibration amplitude increase with sample density, which is unfavorable for levitation stability. However, with the elastic reflector, the decay time and the vibration amplitude are greatly reduced by choosing appropriate parameters of the reflector. Experimental results agree well with theoretical predictions, indicating that levitation stability can be remarkably enhanced by replacing the rigid reflector with an elastic reflector.