Dynamics analysis and flow rate experiments on the fish-tailing type of valveless piezoelectric pump with rectangular vibrator

In recent years, the research and development of piezoelectric pumps have become an increasingly popular topic. Minimization, structure simplification and stronger output became the focus of piezoelectric pumps research due to its possible application in MEMS technology. The valveless fishtailing piezoelectric pump with rectangular vibrator, neither a volumetric nor a rotating pump, was invented according to the bionics of fish swimming. Assume fish were in still while its tail was swinging, fluid would flow toward the end of the tail, achieving the function as a valveless pump. This type of pump creates a new branch of the piezoelectric pump research, and it is proposed for the first time in this paper. Firstly, the dynamics analysis for the deformation of the vibrator was provided. Then the mathematical results of the flow rates for the pump are also resolved. Finally, the experiments to test the flow rates with different driving frequencies were carried out and the results showed that in the first banding vibration mode the piezoelectric vibrator reach its maximum flow rate of 2.0ml/min at the driving frequency of 49 Hz. On the other hand, in the second banding mode, the maximum flow rate achieved 6.4ml/min at the frequency of 460 Hz. The experimental results verified the theoretical explanation and the mathematical analysis.