A miniature piezoelectric pump with high performance

Abstract

The high performance and miniaturization of the piezoelectric pump are essential for its application. A single-chamber piezoelectric pump with a circular unimorph piezoelectric actuator and cantilever check valves is proposed in this work, which has good output performance and smaller overall size. The working principle of the piezoelectric pump was described, and the theoretical working characteristics of the cantilever check valve were analyzed in detail. The corresponding experimental prototype was made for the output performance assessment. The experimental results show that the pump has good self-suck ability under well-assembled process conditions, which provides a guarantee for the high flow rate and the output pressure of the piezoelectric pump. The maximum flow rate of 4.5 ml/min is obtained when the pump is driven by an offset sinusoidal voltage of 180Vpp at 50 Hz; the maximum output pressure of the pump reaches 52 kPa under 180Vpp at 150 Hz. In addition, at 70 Hz, 180Vpp, the comprehensive performance of the piezoelectric pump is better, with a flow rate above 3 ml/min and an output pressure over 35 kPa. The proposed piezoelectric pump has the characteristics of simple structure, high performance, small size, and low cost, which can be applied in microelectronic cooling, biomedical, and other fields.