Analytical and experimental study of a valveless piezoelectric micropump with high flowrate and pressure load

Abstract

Miniaturized gas pumps based on electromagnetic effect have been intensively studied and widely applied in industries. However, the electromagnetic effect-based gas pumps normally have large sizes, high levels of noises and high power consumption, thus they are not suitable for wearable/portable applications. Herein, we propose a high-flowrate and high-pressure load valveless piezoelectric micropump with dimensions of 16 mm*16 mm*5 mm. The working frequency, vibration mode and displacement of the piezoelectric actuator, the velocity of gas flow, and the volume flowrate of the micropump are analyzed using the finite element analysis method. The maximum vibration amplitude of the piezoelectric actuator reaches ~29.4 μm. The output gas flowrate of the pump is approximately 135 mL/min, and the maximum output pressure exceeds 40 kPa. Then, a prototype of the piezoelectric micropump is fabricated. Results show that performance of the micropump is highly consistent with the numerical analysis with a high flowrate and pressure load, demonstrated its great potential for wearable/portable applications, especially for blood pressure monitoring.

Computational analysis of a four-flap valveless micropump (FFVM) for low reynolds number applications in microfluidic systems

“…An essential issue revolves around the risk of mechanical deterioration because of the constant motion of flaps and the resulting stress on the materials. This eventual wear and tear can lead to a decline in the performance and reliability of the micropump over time (Ni et al 2023).…”

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“…In chemical engineering, microfluidics facilitates fine chemical synthesis and high-throughput experimentation, 42 leading to improved reaction yields and reduced waste generation. In mechanical engineering, microfluidics is employed in MEMS for fluidic control, 43 enabling advancements in microvalves, 44 micropumps, 45 and other devices. In environmental engineering, microfluidics aids in the monitoring and analysis of water quality, 46 air pollution, 47 and environmental contaminants.…”

Development of an inertia-driven resonant piezoelectric stack pump based on the flexible support structure

“…The output flow rate of the pump reached 213.5 ml min −1 with a pump chamber height of 0.25 mm, and the output pressure reached 85.2 kPa with a pump chamber height of 0.15 mm [19]. Similarly, Ni et al proposed a valveless piezoelectric air micropump, in which flexure connection structures between the piezoelectric actuator and the fixed surrounding part were used to determine the working frequency of the actuator [20]. The other way is to increase the number of pump chambers, such as using multiple chambers connected in series [21,22], in parallel [23], or in a hybrid manner [24], to enhance the overall output flow rate or backpressure of the piezoelectric pump.…”