Simulation Study of Static and Dynamic Characteristics of Piezoelectric Thin Film Coated Polymer Tube
A novel piezoelectrically actuated micropump was designed and its characteristics were simulated. The proposed structure of micropump consists of a polymer pipe coated with three curved piezoelectric strips, which actuate the polymer pipe walls using an external power source. A three dimensional finite element analysis (FEA) was used to study the deformation in the polymer pipe. The pump prototype comprises three semi-cylindrical discs made of PZT-5H and a polyimide pipe; PZT discs are placed on the opposite sides of a polyimide pipe. The structure was simulated for a wide range of voltages and frequencies. The stroke volume of the micropump was calculated using the deformation profiles obtained from the FEA. The results indicated that the change of stroke volume of pipe was functions of both voltage and frequency of power. Also there were few peak points of stroke volume associated with bending mode of piezoelectric strips. At the lower frequency (<1 KHz) and voltage regions (<100 V), a flow rate of few μl/min could be achieved for a pump designed with check values at the end of the pipe.