Development of a high performance peristaltic micropump

Abstract

In this study, a high performance peristaltic micropump has been developed and investigated. The micropump has three cylinder chambers which are connected through micro-channels for high pumping pressure performance. A circular-shaped mini LIPCA has been designed and manufactured for actuating diaphragm. In this LIPCA, a 0.1mm thickness PZT ceramic is used as an active layer. As a result, the actuator has shown to produce large out of plane deflection and consumed low power. During the design process, a coupled field analysis was conducted to predict the actuating behavior of a diaphragm and pumping performance. MEMS technique was used to fabricate the peristaltic micropump. Pumping performance of the present micropump was investigated both numerically and experimentally. The present peristaltic micropump was shown to have higher performance than the same kind of micropump developed else where.