SBIR-STTR Award

The objective of this program is to demonstrate the feasibility of a novel pump design utilizing piezoelectric pumping elements combined with fast acting non-mechanical active valves and a miniature digital controller. The piezoelectric actuator is an available building block which has a proven track record, surviving 3X10 9 cycles in diesel fuel injectors without failure. Valving has thus far prevented full exploitation of the piezoelectric actuator's capabilities. A fast active valve is needed. Functionality of the novel valve proposed here, has already been demonstrated by several independent investigators. The combination of piezoelectric driver and non-mechanical valves has the potential to result in the first high frequency and thus high power density and intrinsically reliable piezoelectric pump with no wear components. It is proposed under Phase I of this program to fabricate a prototype pump and characterize its performance. The result of this Phase I effort is expected to be proof of the potential for this technology to be able to result in high performance and high reliability pumps which would be useful for a variety of military and civilian applications.

Keywords:
MEMS, Piezoelectric, Pumps, Valves, Actuators; Non-Mechanic

The objective of this program is to develop and make ready for commercial production a novel pump design utilizing piezoelectric pumping elements combined with fast acting non mechanical active valves and a miniature digital controller. The piezoelectric actuator is an available building block that has a proven track record, surviving 3x109 cycles in diesel fuel injectors. Available conventional valve technology has thus far prevented full exploitation of the piezoelectric actuator's capabilities for use in pumps. A fast acting valve is needed. Functionality of the novel valve proposed here as well as a prototype of the compact pump, have already been demonstrated in Phase I of this program. The combination of piezoelectric actuator and non-mechanical valves has the potential to result in the first high frequency and thus high power density and intrinsically reliable piezoelectric pump with no wear components. It is proposed under Phase II of this program to develop and fabricate a pump suitable for commercial sale, and develop analytical tools to enable optimization of pump design parameters to easy adjustment of the design to meet a wide range of applications. It is anticipated that the result of this Phase II effort will be a compact hydraulic pump that has higher specific power density than any currently available that can meet the requirements for many aerospace as well as general industrial requirements. It is planned to develop this technology to a commercial product and then take advantage of the inherently low cost of the raw materials used to fabricate piezoelectric stacks to enable penetration into mass production markets. The demonstration of reduced size, weight and cost while attaining better reliability enables successful competition with existing pump technology.

Keywords:
Compact Piezolectric; Pumps; Hydraulic; Actuators; Smart Materials; MEMS