Numerical Modelling of a Valveless Impedance Pump with Various Pinch Locations

Abstract

Microfluidics devices offers reliable transport mechanism to drive fluid within a microscale flow. This research work aims to identify the characteristic of flow in valveless impedance pump which uses acoustic impedance mismatch to drive flow using numerical simulations. The focus of the studies is designing a well performed pump where the required displacement of elastic wall can still be achieved even when the force applied in different locations and also a mechanism that requires low input current. Shear rate resulting from the pumping mechanism were measured at different input boundary conditions. Important parameters such as pinch location can affect the direction of the velocity magnitude and shear rate. It is found that the maximum shear rate occurred at 2 mm pinch location at 400 s-1. Hence, the pump design from this study can be used as the best application for microfluidic systems where a high pumping amount is desired.