Study of a membrane pump by simulating its fluid-structure interaction in a partitioned way

The pumping of biological fluids is a challenging problem, mainly because damaging of the particles in the fluid, such as blood cells, has to be prevented. The membrane pump analyzed in this research is ideally suited for biomedical applications and particle-laden flows. This unconventional membrane pump operates without any valves and produces a relatively constant mass flow rate. The pump consists of a cylindrical casing which encloses a flexible circular membrane with a hole at its center. The outer edge of the membrane performs an oscillating motion parallel to the axis of the cylinder, brought about by an electromagnet. As a result, the structure of the membrane behaves as a transverse travelling wave pumping the fluid on both sides of the membrane from the inlet at the side of the cylinder to the outlet at the axis. In order to further improve the design of these types of pumps, deeper understanding of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) in these pumps is required.