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 μm 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.