Affiliation:
1. EcoTopia Science Institute, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
2. Graduate School of Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan
Abstract
This study is concerned with the numerical simulation for the performance of a micropump having a wiggling blade. The blade is mounted on a straight conduit, and the wiggling motion is expressed by a progressive wave. The flow in the pump is simulated by the two-dimensional finite element method. The Reynolds number Re, based on the phase velocity of the progressive wave and the blade length, ranges from 10 to 150. The similarity for pump performance appears at Re ≥ 100. However, the pump performance deteriorates with decreasing Re at Re < 100. The time variation of the pump flowrate is found to be very small, demonstrating that the pump can deliver almost steady flow. The simulation also reveals the mechanism of the delivery as follows: The flow heading for the pump outlet occurs near the concave surface of the blade, and it is transported by the progressive wave to the blade trailing edge, and eventually, it is shed from the trailing edge.