Output details

Combination rules for multi-chamber valveless micropumps

This paper analyses piezo transducer based micropumps such as those used to deliver fluid in implanted biomedical devices. Valveless pumps, hence simple to construct and reliable, suffer from limited flow-rate. To raise the flow rate, pumps can be combined in parallel and for greater pressure they can be combined in series. The paper considered several such combinations, both analytically and numerically, to better understand issues associated with micro-scaling. Importantly, this novel work showed that, in most cases, established macro-scale design rules can be applied without major error. This will aid the industrial and commercial realisation of such micro-scale devices.