A dynamic model for studying valveless electromagnetic micropumps

Abstract

In this paper, a fluid–diaphragm coupling model is proposed for studying the dynamic performance of a valveless micropump. In the model, fluid inertia is included and fluid pressure is obtained by solving the coupling equation simultaneously with Navier–Stokes equations through a transient dynamic mesh simulation. This process avoids the omission of the phase shift between the pressure force on the diaphragm and the flow rate of the pump. Furthermore, in this model, empirical parameters are almost eliminated. The model was applied to study the dynamic performance of a valveless electromagnetic micropump which uses a new working principle. The obtained results show that the flow rate attains its maximum value for a range of driving frequency. For instance, the flow rate reaches 1.6 ml min−1 for frequencies of 26–30 Hz when the electromagnetic force is 20 mN. The simulation results demonstrate that the flow rate of the proposed pump is much larger than that of the diffuser pump counterpart. A MEMS prototype has been fabricated and the attained backpressure validates the new pumping principle of the pump.