Development of Microactuators Using Temperature Dependence of Surface Tension
| Project/Area Number |
11555058
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 展開研究 |
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| Research Field |
Thermal engineering
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| Research Institution | KYOTO UNIVERSITY |
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Principal Investigator |
YOSHIDA Hideo Dept. of Mechanical Eng., Kyoto Unversity, Professor, 工学研究科, 教授 (50166964)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SATO Makoto Kyoto University, Technical Manager, フォトニクス事業本部, 技術部長
SAITO Motohiro Dept. of Mechanical Eng., Kyoto Unversity, Res. Associate, 工学研究科, 助手 (90314236)
HORIE Mikio Tokyo Inst. Tech., Prec. Lab., Professor, 精密工学研究所, 教授 (00126327)
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| Project Period (FY) |
1999 – 2001
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| Project Status |
Completed (Fiscal Year 2001)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥13,700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥13,700,000)
Fiscal Year 2001: ¥3,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥4,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥4,800,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥5,500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥5,500,000)
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| Keywords | micro actuator / surface tension / Marangoni effect / micropump |
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| Research Abstract |
As is widely known, in the dimensions of micro electro mechanical systems (MEMS), surface forces are much more prevalent than body forces. This is because the former are proportional to the square power of length scales, while the latter are proportional to the cubic power.Therefore, we propose a new type of micropump system driven by surface tension, namely, the Marangoni effect using thermoelectric elements as temperature controllers. We distribute thermoelectric elements inside a channel, and trap an appropriate amount of gas between the elements ; the gas-liquid interfaces formed between the elements are the source of the pumping power. Each thermoelectric element has two junctions which absorb and discharge heat according to the Peltier effect. Since heat transfer from these junctions to the working liquid imposes temperature gradients along the gas-liquid interfaces, the flow from the hot-liquid side to the cold-liquid one is induced by the Marangoni effect. In order to boost the flow, many thermoelectric elements are distributed along the flow circuit. The features of this system are as follows : - The system does not contain any movable parts, and has a very simple structure. - There is no flow pulsation unlike the positive displacement pump. - There is no limitation on the electrical conductivity of the working liquid as encountered in EHD pumps. - Flow is easily controlled by the electric voltage applied to the thermoelectric elements. As a basic study of the present micropump system, a numerical simulation was made for twodimensional temperature and flow fields taking the electrical characteristics of the thermoelectric elements into account. Also, we tried to manufacture several micropumps, but operations were not successful because the deformation of gas-liquid interface induced unexpected eddies driven by free convection. However, a further trial based on micro fabrication techniques is currently in progress.
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Report
(4 results)
Research Products
(4 results)
