235 - A 7

STATIC AND DYNAMIC FLOW SIMULATION OF A

KOH-ETCHED MICRO VALVE
J. Ulrich*, H. Fuller*, R. Zengerle**

"Siemens AG, ZPLl MPP4, Otto-Hahn-Ring 6, D-80739 Munich, Germany

**Fraunhofer-Institute for Solid State Technology, Hansastr. 27d, D-80686 Munich, Germany

SUMMARY a 2D-model of the valve (fig. 1) including large deflection

In this paper, we present the simulation of the flow rate and stress stiffening. As simplification we assume a
through a KOH-etched micro valve, which is part of an constant pressure in the region of the valve seat. The flap
has a length of 1700 pm and a height of 15 pm, the
electrostatically actuated micropump. This is realized by a
coupled simulation of liquid flow and structural lateral dimension of the opening is 400 pm. In a second
step we use these results as input for the fluidmechanical
displacement of ithe valve using the Finite-Element-
Method. Thereby the static and dynamic behaviour of the model. It consists of 2D four-node elements with three
valve can be simulated in goodl agreement to degrees of freedom (two velocities and the pressure). The
measurements. In combination with anallytical approaches achieved flow rate has to be multiplied with the length of
the valve seat to get the three dimensional result. By
the simulations can be integrated into system simulations.
repetition a characteristic line is created, which
The results are of basic importance for the understanding
and optimization of bi-directional silicon micropumps. corresponds to the pressure dependent static flow rate of
the valve (fig. 2). A comparison with measured results
shows a difference up to 50%. The reason is the real
INTRODUCTION pressure distribution under the flap which does not agree
At the moment many efforts are directed to the with the assumed constant pressure (fig. 3). In the area of
development of micro mechanical components and their the valve seat a low pressure exists, which reduces the
employment in micro systems [l]. The main components displacement of the flap up to 30% and with it the flow
of micro fluid systems are micro pumps and most of them rate of the valve.
are of the reciprocating type. They usually consist of an
actuation unit and two passive check valves (or
diffusorhozzle elements [2]). As driving mechanisms
different principles are used. Among them are piezo-
electric, thermopneumatic and electrostatic drives
[3][4][6]. Flap or membrane valves are normally used for
the definition of the flow direction of the fluid.
These pressure controlled check valves are very
important for the behaviour of a micro pump. By their
static and dynamic properties they basically determine the
flow rate of the pump. The following simulations and
measurements relate to the flap valve which is used in the
electrostatically driven micro pump published in [6].
By simulation of the static and dynamic properties of
the valve, geometric dimensions can be optimized.
Further more does it contribute to the understanding of
complex dynamic behaviour inside the pump. Fig. 1: Velocity distribution of the valve at a pressure
of 30000 Pa; model: 10000 elements
STATIC FINITE ELEMENT SIMULATION Therefore a new iterative simulation method was
For the numerical modelling of the valve we use the developed, This transfers the pressure distribution
commercial FEM-program ANSYSIFI,OTRAN@. In a underneath the flap - which is the result of the fluid flow
first approach we simulated the statii; flow rate by a simulation - back to the structural model as boundary
simple (non-iterative) combination of structural and fluid condition for the next structural simulation. For that
flow calculation as it has been done before [SI.In a first purpose a new algorithm was implemented into ANSYS
step we calculate the structural displacement of the flap in which allows an automatic meshing of the fluid model,

TRANSDUCERS '95 * EUROSENSORS IX

The 8th InternationalConferenceon Solid-StateSensors and Actuators, and EurosensorsIX. Stockholm, Sweden, June 25- 29, 1995 17
235 - A 7

using the geometry of the displaced flap. After some

iterations structural displacement and pressure
distribution come into equilibrium. Using a model with
10000 elements and 10 iterative steps for the static valve s e a t IV
convergence, the results of the coupled 2D simulation
show a better agreement to the measurement (fig. 2).
In a third approach a 3D model of the valve with the
exact lateral dimensions was also calculated in an
iterative solution. By taking into account that over 60000
elements are necessary to get convergence, it takes too
much time to simulate the whole characteristic of the
12000 r
valve. Hence only flow rates at a pressure difference of
10000 and 20000 Pa were calculated and both results
show an excellent alignment to the measurements. -
am0

-0- measurement

-2000 -
-4000 -
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 , ,

1,0 1,l 1,2 1,3 1,4’ 1,5 1,6 1,7

length of the flap [mm]
Fig. 3: Schematic view of the valve opening and
pressure distribution under the flap, including
5000 loo00 15000 20000
low pressure region
pressure [Pa] Formula (1) simplifies itself to:
Fig. 2: Simulation and measurement of the flow rate
through a KOH-etched flap valve

where CD is the flow rate, h the height of the valve seat, y

ANALYTICAL MODEL FOR THE STATIC
FLOW RATE
As an alternative to time-consuming FEM simulations an
analytical model was developed for the calculation of the
static flow rate of the micro valve. Using this model,
design parameters of the valve can be optimized very fast,
depending on the outer demands. Further more this model
can be used for the integration into more complex
systems, like a model for the whole micro pump or a
micro system.
Fluid flow in the gap between flap and valve seat can
be described by the extended Bernoulli’s equation
P1 + a p* = p 2 + u 2 v 2 +(P,)*-2
p1, v1 and pz, v2 are pressure and velocity at the beginning
and the end of the gap. a is a coefficient to consider the
flow profile and ( p , ) ~ . ~describes the pressure losses
because of fluid friction. These friction includes laminar
friction as well as whirl losses.
The geometry of the valve gap can be separated into
five sections (fig. 3). Sections I and I1 show decreasing.
cross section. In here friction losses can be neglected and
only acceleration losses have to be considered.
the pressure dependent displacement of the flap and b the
length of the valve seat in the third dimension.
Sections I11 and V are gap-shaped, and only laminar
friction has to be considered:
(3)
where 11.2 are the length of the gaps.
In section IV the fluid flow takes on very complex
structure. Because of the large opening angle of the
diffusor, the liquid removes from the wall and forms
whirls. The pressure loss is composed of acceleration and
friction losses :
(1)
(4)
An approximation for the friction loss in the diffusor is
assuming that the pressure loss is proportional to the
kinetic energy of the fluid. 5 is a loss coefficient which
depends on the lateral dimensions and normally has to be
determined by an empirical solution. In our case we
determined the loss coefficient by simulating a diffusor

TRANSDUCERS ‘95 - EUROSENSORS IX

18 The 8th InternationalConference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, and EurosensorsIX. Stockholm, Sweden, June 25-29, 1995
 235 -A7

with different dimensions, using FEM fluid simulation. transfer of the velocity of the structure to the fluid
The result is a characteristic line of the loss coefficient of model
the diffusor which approximates the flow in section IV transfer of fluid pressure and fluid friction to the
including whirls and removing effects at the boundary structural model
walls (fig. 4). As a first example we simulated the dynamic
behaviour of a free oscillating flap in the fluid
surrounding (vacuum resonance frequency of the flap =
6000 Hz). The model consist of a 2D-flap which has a
initial displacement of 50 pm. The results of the
simulation are analogous to a mechanical oscillator.
Because of the large damping of the fluid the resonance
frequency decreases down to 830 Hz (fig. 5).
50

40

-f
Y
30
20
c
5 10
0 , 10 5 20 0 30 ~ '
40 ~' '
50 ' I E
0 o
height of the diffusor y [pm] ra.10
Fig. 4: Loss coefficient of the valve difiusor n
.v, -20
-0
Adding up those results the flow rate CP through the &30
-
valve can be calculated as a function of the total pressure Y-
-40
difference p and the height of the gap olpening y: -50
0,000 0,001 0,002 0,003 0,004 0,005 0,006
time [SI

Corresponding to the total pressure difference across the Fig. 5: Free oscillation of a flap inside the fluid (water)
valve the local pressure distribution uinderneath the flap
can be calculated in a similar way. [t can be used to
determine the displacement of the flap using the
-2 2500
-m
2500
1

differential equation for a bended beam: : ?

3
: o " 0

(7) 2
En
Q-2500 -2500

The static flow characteristic of the valve can be 20

calculated by an iterative numerical solution. which is

similar to the iterative FEM-simulation explained earlier.
The final result of FEM as well as the iterative analytical 10

simulation are nearly identical (fig. 2). Both are taking

into account the significant influence of the low pressure
0
in the diffusor region. It reduces the displacement of the
flap and with it the flow rate of the valve.
0

SIMULATION OF THE DYNAMIC

BEHAVIOUR OF THE VALVE -20

To understand the high frequency behaviour of I

0,000 0,005 0,010
L
0,000 0,001 0,002 0,003
,
micropumps we used transient FEM-analysis. Therefore time [SI time [SI
we combined transient structural simulations of the valve,
including the damping property of the liquid, with
1-
transient flow simulation. Doing coupled fluid structural Fig. 6: Coupledfluid structural simulation of the valve
simulation with ANSYS some additional modules have to at driving frequencies of 200 and 2500 Hz
be integrated into the FEM-program. Considering the As a second more complex calculation we have done a
physical effects between both models, each transient coupled transient simulation of the complete valve,
simulation step has to be carried out in two points:
including the valve seat. As actuation we assumed a

TRANSDUCERS '95 . EUROSENSORS IX

The 8th InternationalConferenceon Solid-stateSensors and Actuators, and Eurosensors IX. Stockholm, Sweden, June 25-29, 1995 19
235 - A 7
sinus-pressure with different frequencies and a maximum
amplitude of 3000 Pa. The results show the influence of
the resonance frequency of the valve to the simulated flow
rate. At a frequency of 200 Hz, which is much smaller
than the resonance frequency of 1660 Hz (twice as much
as the free flap, because of the influence of the valve seat)
the valve shows a quasistatic behaviour (fig. 6). Driving
pressure and displacement of the valve are in phase. At a
frequency of 2500 Hz the behaviour basically changes.
Because of a phase shift between actuation and
displacement of the valve, the flow rate becomes negative.
This valve behaviour has a basic influence on the
dynamics of the micro pump.
SIMULATION OF A BI-DIRECTIONAL
MICRO PUMP
Up to now the fluid simulation of a whole micro pump
is a too complex model for a coupled FEM-analysis.
Method of choice is a combination of analytical solution
with the results of the EM-simulation.
The transient pressure in an electrosratic micro pump
can be calculated by a differential equation [6].
________
dP dP
This equation has to be extended on two differential
equations describing the dynamics of the valves.
Therefore we use the basic differential equation of a
driven mechanical oscillator.
Resonance frequency and damping factor of the oscillator
are extracted from figure 5. Together with the analytical
formula for the valve flow rate ~iv,ov=f(piv/ov,y~v/ov)
we
simulated the frequency dependent pump rate of the
micro pump by a numerical solution.
L B. H. van de Schoot, S. Jeanneret, A. van den Berg, N.F.
4
backward
mode
-
. , -
. forwardmode - H.T.G. Van Lintel, F.C.M. Van de Pol, S. Bouwstra, A
100 1000
frequency [Hz]
Fig. 7: Frequency dependent pump rate of a bi-
directional micro pump
20 The 8th International Conference on Solid-State Sensors and Actuators, and Eurosensors IX Stockholm, Sweden, June 25-29, 1995
For low frequencies the model results in the well-
known quasistatic behaviour of minaturized diaphragm
pumps. The pump rate can be increased with higher
driving frequency. At frequencies above 1200 Hz the flow
rate decreases and becomes negative for frequencies
higher than the resonance frequency of the valves. This is
the effect of the phase shift between actuation and valve
displacement. As a result of it the pump can be used as a
bi-directional micro pump. The direction of the fluid
transport can be chosen by varying the driving frequency.
The simulated results show a good agreement to the
measurement (fig. 7). Differences can be explained by
inertia effects of the fluid in the tubes and by the approxi-
mation of the three-dimensional system by a 2D-model
CONCLUSION
We present FEMlsimulation and analytical calculations
of the static and dynamic behaviour of a KOH-etched
silicon check valve. It has been shown that for the flow
characteristic of the valve the detailed pressure
distribution around the valve seat has to be taken into
account. The influence of the low pressure in the diffusor
region of the valve has been considered by an iterative
solution.
For the first time we investigated the transient flow
through the valve by coupled fluid structural FEM-
analysis. It has been shown that at operation frequencies
higher than the resonance frequency of the flap valve the
flow changes its direction This is due to the phase shift
between the flap opening and the actuation pressure.
Basing on this results the working principle of a bi-
directional micropump [6] can be simulated in good
agreement to the measured results.
(9)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the European
Community for financial support given by the
Bri teEuRam Project 5094.
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