Electrical analogies applied on a volumetric micropump: highlights of its fluidic resonant frequency

This paper deals with a simple way for optimising the design of a valve-less micropump. The method is based on electric analogies. The micropump is compared to an electrical circuit similar to a RLC circuit. By this way, the fluidic resonant frequency of the micropump can be evaluated despite a non-linear working due to the used of micro-valve. The results are applied on the design of an electrostatic micropump with a specific electrode shape in order to control the micropump resonant frequency. In order to validate the modelling, a prototype of electrostatic micropump is realised. The micropump is composed of three different wafers associated by bonding techniques.