Combination Rules for Multichamber Valveless Micropumps

The general design rules indicate that when identical macroscale pumps (each with a maximum flowrate Q_m, and maximum pressure drop ΔP_max) are combined in series, the maximum flowrate is Q_m, but the maximum pressure drop becomes 2ΔP_max, while combined in parallel the maximum flowrate becomes 2Q_m, and the maximum pressure is ΔP_max. In this paper, we test whether these design rules apply to microscale valveless micropumps using highly resolved CFD calculations. The variation of flow with pump pressure drop is studied by varying the resistance of an external circuit. The analysis confirmed that the macroscale design rules for macroscale pumps are applicable to microscale pumps. The study also enabled the influence of different forcing strategies on the pump performance to be analyzed.