Abstract
This study designs and analyzes an impedance pump utilizing an electromagnetic actuator. The pump is designed to have three major components, namely a lower glass substrate patterned with a copper micro-coil, a microchannel, and an upper glass cover plate attached a magnetic PDMS diaphragm. When a current is passed through the micro-coil, an electromagnetic force is established between the coil and the magnetic diaphragm. The resulting deflection of the PDMS diaphragm creates an acoustic impedance mismatch within the microchannel, which results in a net flow. In performing the analysis, simulated models of the magnetic field, the diaphragm displacement and the flow rate are developed using Ansoft/Maxwell3D, ANSYS FEA and FLUENT 6.3 CFD software, respectively. Overall, the simulated results reveal that a net flow rate of 52.8 μL/min can be obtained using a diaphragm displacement of 31.5 μm induced by a micro-coil input current of 0.5 A. The impedance pump proposed in this study provides a valuable contribution to the ongoing development of Lab-on-Chips (LoCs) systems.
Highlights
In recent decades, rapid advances in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) have enabled the development of a wide variety of microfluidic devices for chemical control, mixing and analysis.Typically, the devices are designed to perform specific function such as cell sorting and counting, sample injection, specific mixing and so forth
The analyzed results confirm that a net flow rate of 52.8 μL/min can be obtained using a diaphragm displacement of 31.5 μm induced by a micro-coil input current of 0.5 A
In the electromagnetic actuation mechanism, the magnet is electroplated on the PDMS diaphragm which is positioned such that its center coincides with the vertical centerline of the micro coil
Summary
Rapid advances in micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) have enabled the development of a wide variety of microfluidic devices for chemical control, mixing and analysis. Chang et al [9] designed and analyzed a valveless impedance pump in which the actuation mechanism comprised a permanent magnet mounted on a flexible PDMS diaphragm positioned above a copper plated micro-coil at a height of 630 μm, corresponding to the position of the maximum electromagnetic force on the magnet. For enhancing the performance of the micro impedance pump, Chang et al [12] designed, analyzed and optimized the micro impedance pump and found a target diaphragm deflection of 20 μm could be obtained using a compression force of 12 μN developed by a micro-coil input current of 0.8 A. The analyzed results confirm that a net flow rate of 52.8 μL/min can be obtained using a diaphragm displacement of 31.5 μm induced by a micro-coil input current of 0.5 A
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