Flow Investigation in a Disk Micropump

The flow field in a disk micropump is investigated using CFD. The results are validated with experimental data, showing good agreement. Flow field details are presented for different pump parameters. In order to better understand the influence of the pump geometry and fluid properties on the pump performance, an analytical model for the pump head has been derived. Since the pumping mechanism is mainly due to viscous forces, a typical turbomachinery approach, which is based on the effect of centrifugal forces, is not appropriate. The proposed analytical model, which is general and can also be used for scale up purposes, shows that the non-dimensional results of CFD and measurements matches very well.