Microfluidic Simulations of Micropump with Multiple Vibrating Membranes

A novel design of a micropump with multiple vibrating membranes has been investigated in this study. The micropump consists of three nozzle/diffuser elements with vibrating membranes, which are used to create pressure difference in the pump chamber. The dynamic mesh algorithm in the computational fluid dynamics solver, FLUENT, was employed to study transient responses of fluid velocity and flow rate during the operating cycle of the micropump. The design simulation results showed that the movement of wall membranes combined with the rectification behavior of three nozzle/diffuser elements can minimize back flow and improve net flow in one direction. The maximum flow rate from the micropump increased when the membrane displacement and membrane frequency increased. Based on the performance characteristics from the simulations, the designed micropump is suitable to fabricate for practical applications.