• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.35-41
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• 2006

In this paper, we focus on improving the performance of the piezoelectric diaphragms of valveless micropumps. A circular lightweight piezoelectric composite actuator (LIPCA) with a high level of displacement and output force has been developed for piezoelectrically actuated micropumps. We used numerical and experimental methods to analyze the characteristics of the actuator to select optimal design. With the developed circular LIPCA, we fabricated a valveless micropump by photo-lithography and PDMS molding techniques. The displacement of the diaphragm, the flow rate and the back pressure of the micropump were evaluated and discussed. With a semi-empirical method, the flow rate with respect to driving frequency was predicted and compared with experimental one. The test results confirm that the circular LIPCA is a promising candidate for micropump application and can be used as a substitute for a conventional piezoelectric actuator diaphragm.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2008

In this paper, the pumping performance of a piezoelectric valveless micropump is simulated with a commercial finite element analysis software, COMSOL Multiphysics. The micropump developed in the previous work is composed of a 4-layer lightweight piezo-composite actuator (LIPCA), a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pump chamber, and two diffusers. The piezoelectric domain, structural domain and fluid domain are coupled in the simulation. Water flow rates are numerically predicted for geometric parameters of the micropump. Based on this study, the micropump is optimally designed to obtain its highest pumping performance.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.140.1-140.1
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• 2005

• 유체기계공업학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2004.12a
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• pp.748-753
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• 2004

The performance of a valveless micropump driven by chamber wall oscillation was numerically investigated for various frequency and amplitude of the oscillation. The numerical study was performed in the range of oscillation frequency from 200Hz to 1000Hz and amplitude from $1{\mu}m$ to $15{\mu}m$. And optimal values for the parameters are found. At the oscillation frequency 600Hz, the net flow rate of micropump shows a maximum value. Also the results show good agreement with the experimental results. The total flow rate was increased with the oscillation amplitude. However, the net flow rate was found to be decreased over $7{\mu}m$.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.37 no.8
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• pp.744-750
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• 2009

In this study, the pumping performance of a piezoelectric valveless micropump is simulated. The micropump, which was developed in the previous work, is composed of a four-layer lightweight piezocomposite actuator, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) pump chamber, and two diffusers. The piezoelectric domain, the fluid domain and the structural domain are coupled in the three-dimensional simulation. We used ANSYS for the piezoelectric and structural domains and ANSYS CFX for the fluid domain. The effects of driven frequency on the flow rate have been investigated by simulating the flow characteristics for 10 Hz and 40 Hz driven frequencies. The flow rates with respect to driven frequencies up to 300 Hz have been calculated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.291-299
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• 2002

This paper characterizes hi-directionally oscillating flow in planar microdiffusers in order to evaluate the frequency-dependent flow rectification performance of the microdiffusers. In the theoretical study, we analyze a hi-directionally oscillating flow in the planar microdiffuser. In the experimental study, we fabricate two different microdiffuser prototypes, having different neck widths of 100 ㎛ (D100) and 300 ㎛(D300), respectively. The experimental net flow rates are measured as 116.6 $\mu$ι/min. and 344.4 $\mu$ι/min. for D100 and D300, respectively. The experimental flow rate of D300 decreases at the oscillating flow frequencies higher than 90Hz, at which the net boundary layer thickness is reduced to the microdiffuser neck width. It is experimentally verified that the flow rectification performance and the net flow rate of the microdiffusers tend to decrease when the boundary layer thickness is smaller than the diffuser neck width.