Vibration Analysis Of A Double Circular Pzt Actuator For A Valveless Micropump

In the conventional mechanical micropumps, the motion from one component (such as gear or diaphragm) produces pressure difference, which is needed to move fluid. In this paper, we propose a new method to use double PZT layers as an actuator for a valveless micropump, which is designed for pumping blood. Due to the high surface tension of blood, one PZT actuator is not strong enough to produce sufficient displacement. So instead of one PZT layer, a double-PZT layer is utilized to produce movement force. In this research, the analytic equations of a double circular PZT layer are derived to express the natural frequency of the system. The finite element method (FEM) simulation is utilized to verify the analytic equations. Then the required input voltage is applied to maximize the functionality of the system, whose simulation results are compared with the experimental measurement setup. Finally, a typical valveless micropump with the proposed double PZT layer is simulated by using COMSOL Multiphysics software. The flow rate of this configuration is compared with a single PZT actuator to demonstrate the effect of the proposed double-PZT actuator on the application to the valveless micropumps.