Suppressing the generation of cavitation by increasing the number of inlet check valves in piezoelectric pumps

Abstract Cavitation is a serious constraint on micropumps. A method in which the number of inlet valves is increased to raise the pump chamber pressure is proposed to suppress the generation of cavitation in micropumps. The simulation shows that as the number of inlet valves in the pump increases, the pressure in the pump chamber rises during the absorbing phase. When the pump is designed with 6 inlet and 2 outlet valves, the pressure in the pump chamber can increase above the saturated vapor pressure, thereby the generation of cavitation can be suppressed. Experimental data show that the flow rate of the pump using 6 inlet and 2 outlet valves can reach four times that of the pump using 4 inlet and 4 outlet valves. Experiments and simulations results show that increasing the number of inlet valves can effectively suppress the generation of cavitation and improve the efficiency of micropumps.