Magnetorheological elastomer peristaltic pump capable of flow and viscosity control

In this article, a magnetorheological elastomer peristaltic pump capable of bidirectionally conveying Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids with precise net pumped volume and required viscosity patterns of fluids is presented and numerically investigated. The basic element is very succinct, which is composed of only a magnetorheological elastomer tube and an electromagnet. Two basic elements in series constitute a magnetorheological elastomer peristaltic pump. The maximum pumped volume can be achieved using maximum lag between voltage parameters gap1 and gap2. The Nelder-Mead optimization method is applied to realize the precise control of the net pumped volume during a steady working cycle. For a certain net pumped volume, the viscosity of fluids can also be adjusted through the modulation of the driving voltage parameters obtained from the Nelder-Mead optimization method.