A titanium-nickel shape-memory alloy actuated micropump

Author

Benard, W.L. ; Kahn, H. ; Heuer, A.H. ; Huff, M.A.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Appl. Phys., Case Western Reserve Univ., Cleveland, OH, USA

Volume

1

fYear

1997

fDate

16-19 Jun 1997

Firstpage

361

Abstract

The shape memory alloy (SMA) titanium-nickel (TiNi) is used in thin film form as the basis of actuation for a reciprocating micropump. A novel configuration comprising two complementary TiNi actuators is used to perform cyclic motion by utilizing the shape memory effect (SME). Check valves are fabricated from polyimide to ensure unidirectional flow through the pump chamber. The pump is driven by an electrical drive signal, which is passed directly through the TiNi thin films, causing a Joule heating-induced phase transformation and initiating the SME. Cyclic motion is achieved by heating the actuators out of phase. The pump was tested with filtered DI water and attained a pump rate of 50 μL/min

Keywords

intelligent actuators; intelligent materials; microactuators; micropumps; nickel alloys; shape memory effects; titanium alloys; valves; Joule heating-induced phase transformation; Ti-Ni; Ti-Ni shape-memory alloy actuated micropump; actuation; check valves; cyclic motion; electrical drive signal; filtered DI water; implantable drug delivery systems; micro on-chip chemical analyzers; polyimide; pump chamber; pump rate; reciprocating micropump; thin film form; two complementary TiNi actuators; unidirectional flow; Actuators; Heat pumps; Micropumps; Polyimides; Resistance heating; Shape memory alloys; Testing; Titanium alloys; Transistors; Valves;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Solid State Sensors and Actuators, 1997. TRANSDUCERS '97 Chicago., 1997 International Conference on

Conference_Location

Chicago, IL

Print_ISBN

0-7803-3829-4

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/SENSOR.1997.613659

Filename

613659