Study on the large flow rate piezoelectric mini-pump with metal check valve

This paper presents a large flow rate pump actuated by PZT bimorphs for fluidic systems. The pump is characterized by thin structure, large flow rate, low power consumption, etc. A prototype of the pump, with a size of 16 mm, 16 mm and 4 mm, is fabricated by precise manufacturing. Simulations and experiments showed that the piezoelectric pump has high efficiency and good performance. With a voltage of 120 V, the flow rate is 15.3 ml/min in resonance and its power consumption is only 3.18 mW. A robust passive high pressure check valve is developed for piezoelectric actuated pumps. A novel metal check valve flap is used to increase the valve´s structural stiffness with pressures up to 23.6 kPa. A series-wound multi-pump cavity structure prevents valve-flap failure under extreme high pressure. The valve-flap is also designed to work at frequency larger than 200 Hz. The valve-flap is fabricated with wire cut electric discharge machines. The whole valve weighs 4 g including packaging.