Development of a piezoelectric pump using hinge-lever amplification mechanism

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and tests of a piezoelectric pump using hinge-lever amplification mechanism. The proposed hinge-lever amplification mechanism consists of a base frame, a lever with contact steel ball, and a multilayer piezoelectric actuator. The lever is in contact with the piezoelectric actuator through hinged steel ball. The extended piezoelectric actuator pushes the contact steel ball; therefore, a small displacement of piezoelectric actuator can be amplified through the movement of the lever. The amplified displacement of 683 mu m was measured at the applied voltage of 100 V. These results show the fact that the proposed hinge-lever mechanism can be obtained the amplification ratio of up to ten times. The piezoelectric pump using hinge-lever amplification mechanism was fabricated and pumping performance was experimentally investigated. The pump achieved no-load flow rate, maximum output pressure of 600 ml/min and 6.8 kPa, respectively, at the applied voltage of 100 V and driving frequency of 250 Hz.