Characterization of a Peristaltic Micropump Using Experiments and Simulations

The main focus of this study is to experimentally and numerically investigate the operation of a gas-actuated peristaltic micropump in order to characterize its performance in various conditions. The micropump includes three serially interconnected cylindrical chambers where a monolithic membrane is implemented to generate the flow. The simulation is three dimensionally carried out in the COMSOL Multiphysics software, employing a two-way fluid-structure interaction (FSI) approach. To validate the outcomes, an experimental setup for the micropump under investigation is designed and prepared. The results reveal that an increase in gas actuation pressure improves the performance of the micropump in terms of generated flow rate, fluid velocity, and outlet pressure. Additionally, the relationship between actuation frequency and micropump outputs (i.e., generated flow rate and pressure) is investigated. Increasing the actuation frequency leads to an increase in both the flow rate and the pressure. However, a threshold which occurs at an actuation frequency of 13 Hz is observed in the pattern of the outputs, where the flow rate and flow pressure increase up to certain points before decreasing. The presented micropump is capable of generating a flow rate of up to 655 µl/min and a pressure of up to 16.66 kPa. Furthermore, stress analysis demonstrates that the membrane can withstand the maximum Von Misses stress of 9.8 MPa observed at an actuation pressure of 150 kPa.