PZT-based valveless micropump is a microactuator that can be used for controlling and delivering tiny amounts of fluids,and diffuser/nozzle plays an important role when this type of micropump drives the fluid flowing along a specific direction.In this paper,a numerical model of micropump has been proposed,and the fluidic properties of diffuser/nozzle have been simulated with ANSYS.With the method of finite-element analysis,the increased pressure drop between inlet and outlet of diffuser/nozzle induces the increment of flow rate in both diffuser and nozzle simultaneously,but the increasing rate of diffuser is faster than that of nozzle.The L/R,ratio of L(length of cone pipe) and R(radius of minimal cross section of cone pipe) plays an important role in fluidic performance of diffuser and nozzle as well,and the mean flow rate will decrease with increment of L/R.The mean flow rate reaches its peak value when L/R with the value of 10 regardless the divergence angle of diffuser or nozzle.The simulation results indicate that the fluidic properties of diffuser/nozzle can be defined by its geometric structure,and accordingly determine the efficiency of micropump.
