A Development of Micropump Based on Cooling System for Laptops

This paper aims to study a new mechanical diaphragm micropump for a liquid cooling system for laptops. A low weight, high discharge diaphragm pump has been developed successfully to pump the coolant by the crank and extended rocker mechanism using a micro gear dc motor. The bossed diaphragm pump chamber and mechanism are fabricated using high-quality PLA with optimized parameters and the FDM 3D printing method. Both valves and diaphragm are created using silicon rubber. The reciprocating action of the mechanism develops the suction and discharge stages that make the pump work. The pump’s performance is analyzed using an experimental setup that has been developed and implemented. The diaphragm design, pump chamber, operating voltage, and coolant type all affect the performance of a bossed diaphragm pump driven by a crank and extended rocker mechanism. The measured maximum flow rate of the designed prototype is 94 mL/min for water and 65 mL/min for ethylene glycol solution within 5 V actuation voltage and zero pressure head.