Development of a piezoelectric-driven miniature pump for biomedical applications

• A piezoelectric-driven miniature pump that achieved high flow rate through a combination of piezoelectric-actuator and pumping chamber with rib structures were developed.
• To increase the performance of the miniature pump, effects of different brass-based piezoelectric-actuators and rib structures were investigated.
• A high flow rate of 197 ml/min was achieved by using a 0.2 mm piezoelectric-actuator having maximum deflection amplitude of 0.19 mm, with a 0.05 mm flow-field oriented rib structure within the pumping chamber.

Miniature pumping system is widely used in mechanical and bio-medical fields, and in this regard, extensive researches are being conducted in related applications. This paper reports a novel piezoelectric-driven miniature pump that can achieve high flow rate through a combination of piezoelectric-actuator and pumping chamber with internal rib structures. The major features of the proposed miniature pump are self-priming and high flow rate at low frequency range. Flow rates at different frequencies were measured under different piezoelectric-actuator thicknesses and fluid viscosities. In addition, the correlation between the actuator displacement and the pumping efficiency at different frequencies was investigated and discussed. High flow rates of up to 196 ml/min and 141 ml/min were achieved for water and blood mimicking fluid, respectively. It was achieved by using a piezoelectric actuator with a 0.2 mm thick piezoelectric layer and a 0.25 mm thick brass plate, and a pumping chamber with 0.05 mm embedded flow-guiding rib structures for pumping efficiency improvement.