Theoretical analysis and experimental testing of a miniature piezoelectric pump

A number of micropumps have been proposed in the last few years based on different actuating principles and fabricated by different technologies, In most cases, however, those micropumps have been designed taking into account primarily available microfabrication technologies rather than appropriate fluidodynamic analysis, In fact, not many papers are available in the literature presenting theoretical models usable to describe the functioning and predict the performance of existing micropumps, In this paper we present a new theoretical model suitable for guiding the design and predicting the performance of a volumetric micropump actuated by a piezoelectric actuator. The model takes into account the influence of inlet and outlet parameters, fluid viscosity, pump geometry, and displacement of pumping element. Simulations have been performed and compared satisfactorily with results of experiments on a prototype micropump fabricated in our laboratory