Micromachined valves based on multilayer piezoelectric actuators

The design, fabrication and characteristics of a novel micromachined valve based on multilayer piezoelectric actuators (MPAs) are described for accurate fluid control. The micromachined MPA valve, which has a buckling effect, consists of three separate structures: a seat die, an actuator die and an MPA. The fabricated MPA valve shows a flow rate of 9.13 seem at an applied DC voltage of 100 V with a 50% duty cycle and maximum nonlinearity of 2.24% FS. Therefore, the fabricated MPA valve is suitable for a variety of flow control equipment, a medical bio-system, and the automobile industry.