Design of a New Biomimic Flow Pump Using SMA Actuators
low pumps have been developed for classical applications in Engineering and medicine. They are vital instruments in areas such as Biology where the applications demand many such devices in miniaturized form to handle life saving fluids and drugs. The aim of this paper is to develop a new bio-mimic fluid pump, designed to achieve miniaturization in its size and volume. A new actuation technique is proposed which pumps the fluid based on the principle of flow due to pressure difference created by varying the cross-section of a flexible tube. The novelty and advantage being, no external pressurizing device is needed and the flow can be made bidirectional. This is in general not possible in normal or traditional pumps. Use of SMA wires as actuators helps in keeping the size and weight of the device as low as possible. The working principle of the device and the conceptual design are discussed. Mathematical model, relating the flow parameters required for controlling the device, and analytical results obtained from such relations are presented.