Insect-Inspired Micropump: Flow in a Tube with Local Contractions

Abstract

A biologically-inspired micropumping model in a three-dimensional tube subjected to localized wall constrictions is given in this article. The present study extends our previous pumping model where a 3D channel with a square cross-section is considered. The proposed pumping approach herein applies to tubular geometries and is given to mimic an insect respiration mode, where the tracheal tube rhythmic wall contractions are used/hypothesized to enhance the internal flow transport within the entire respiration network. The method of regularized Stokeslets-mesh-free computations is used to reconstruct the flow motions induced by the wall movements and to calculate the time-averaged net flow rate. The time-averaged net flow rates from both the tube and channel models are compared. Results have shown that an inelastic tube with at least two contractions forced to move with a specific time lag protocol can work as a micropump. The system is simple and expected to be useful in many biomedical applications.

Modelling and characterization of a pneumatically actuated peristaltic micropump

“…In this more general case, one has to calculate the flow rate using the fluid velocity profile, assuming that the law of motion of the channel boundary w(ξ, t) is known. Numerical solution of such problem either with the help of computational hydrodynamics methods or by means of meshfree computations proposed in [15,16] is the goal of further research.…”

“…(14) is needed to keep the displacement of the membrane center finite and avoid non-physical solutions. Finally, the initial conditions (15), (16) manifest that all membranes are in quiescent position with zero velocity at t = 0.…”

“…The lumped element method is traditionally used to simplify modelling when the pump is analyzed separately from the microfluidic system and its characteristics are taken as boundary conditions for a liquid flow simulation within a microchannel [13,14]. In those cases when the law of motion of actuators is known, the problem reduces to solving the Navier-Stokes equation in a domain with moving boundaries, which can be done both with the help of classical mesh methods of computational hydrodynamics and Stokeslets-meshfree computations [15,16].…”

Silent Pumpers: A Comparative Topical Overview of the Peristaltic Pumping Principle in Living Nature, Engineering, and Biomimetics

“…The word peristalsis is derived from the Greek word peristellein , which broadly translates as “wrap around to move,” and describes, for example, the muscle activity of most hollow tube organs and a movement behavior of annelids with hydrostatic skeletons . There are three different modes of peristalsis pumping: propagative anterograde (forward) peristalsis, propagative retrograde (backward) peristalsis, and nonpropagative peristalsis (e.g., stationary mixing motion in the small intestine or localized rhythmic contractions of tracheal networks in insects) (Figure ) …”

Micromachines Beyond Silicon-Based Technologies: A Letter from the New Editor-in-Chief

“…The design of micromachines can find inspiration from nature, as natural systems are optimised machines perfected by millions of years of evolution. The bionic mimosa robot [ 8 ] and the insect-inspired micropump [ 9 ] reported last year was good examples for bio-inspired designs. In terms of micromachining technology for non-silicon materials, machining of aluminium nitride, a seminconducting material with wide band gap [ 10 , 11 ], opens up interesting applications for high-power, high-temperature MEMS devices.…”