Numerical simulation and experimental verification of a valveless piezoelectric pump based on heteromorphic symmetric bluff body

Abstract

To improve the output performance of valveless piezoelectric pumps, this paper designed a heteromorphic symmetrical bluff body based on the Karman vortex street principle, to optimize the flow direction and velocity of the liquid. The bluff body dome height, trapezoidal unilateral angle, and rounded corner structure height at different dimensional parameters and their relationship with the pump performance were studied. The pump pressure in both positive and negative directions was simulated and analyzed. At last, a prototype of the pump was made and the output performance was tested. The experimental results show that the maximum flow rate reaches 220.6 ml/min at 190 V, 45 Hz when the bluff body dome is 8 mm, the trapezoidal unilateral angle is 5°, and the rounded corner structure is 6 mm. Moreover, when the driving voltage is 190 V and the driving frequency is 130 Hz, the maximum output pressure reaches 670 Pa.