A piezoelectric microvalve with a flexure-hinged driving frame and microfabricated silicon sealing pair

This paper describes a piezoelectric microvalve for attitude control of micro-satellite with a mass in the range of 20–100 kg. The microvalve comprises of a driving mechanism with a flexure-hinged frame and a valve body with a silicon sealing pair. The silicon valve core with sealing rings can achieve a low leak rate with a small structural deformation. The driving mechanism using a flexure-hinged frame and piezoelectric actuators assures the microvalve normally closed and leads to a fast response of the microvalve. The response time of the driving mechanism is characterized to be as small as 0.6 ms. A maximum flow rate of 3100 mL/min is achieved at an inlet pressure of 0.6 MPa while applied with a maximum voltage of 200 V. The static power consumption is 48 mW with a driving voltage of 200 V, and the dynamic power consumption is approximately 0.9 W at 100 Hz.