Resonant Micro-Fans for Pumping Fluid in Microchannels
PIs: Victor M. Bright, Kamran Mohseni
Students: Jill Cooper, Chris Oshman
Project field/specialty: resonant micro fans, microfluidics
Project Description:
Fluid flow in microchannels can be inhibited by large pressure drops that cause unwanted energy losses. In order to increase the flow rate, energy must be added to the system. Linderman et al demonstrated that micro resonant fans, shown in Figure 1, made using traditional, low cost MEMS fabrication techniques, can be embedded in microchannels. The fans are electrostatically actuated using an AC signal at their resonant frequency. At a certain Reynolds number, vortex shedding occurs at the tip of the fan, producing a volumetric flow rate in an otherwise static fluid. The current project aims to create large resonant micro fan arrays to produce pumping power in microchannels exceeding the capabilities of traditional pumping mechanisms.
Figure 1: Micro fan and its pumping mechanism (Linderman, 2003)
Reference: R.J. Linderman, O. Nilsen, V.M. Bright. “The resonant micro fan gas pump for active breathing microchannels,” 12th International Conference on Solid State Sensors, Actuators and Microsystems, 2003, pp. 1923-1926.
Funding Source: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)
