Numerical and experimental studies of a one-side actuating micropump with piezoelectric effect

In this study, a three-dimensional, transitional simulated model of a one-side actuating micropump, based on an actual design, has been successfully developed to predict the flow rates and pump heads by changing actuator displacements and the coupling effects of valves under different frequencies. The grid deformation with two moving boundaries, including the PDMS diaphragm and the piezoelectric device, is adopted in a CFD theoretical model for transition simulation. The simulated results indicate that the performance of the micropump strongly depends on the displacement and frequency of the actuator as well as the vibration of the valves. Compared with the maximum displacement of theoretical input data for the actuator at the frequency of 130 Hz, the simulated maximum flow rate is 1.6 ml/s at 140 Hz with the maximum pump head of 3.6 kPa due to the effect of valve vibration. In addition, the experimental results show that the pump with inlet/outlet+2 mm has the highest drain flow rate, but the pump with inlet/outlet+1 mm earns the highest pump efficiency due to the highest pump head.