M.Sc. Thesis: Fabrication of a Magnetically Actuated Ferrofluidic Micropump
The fabrication and characterization of a magnetically actuated ferrofluidic piston micropump with active ferrofluidic microvalves was presented. The micropump used ferrofluid for both pumping and valving, thus the device did not need any microfabricated moving parts. It was consist of a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) microchannel containing two ferrofluid plugs, one ferrofluidic plug acting as both inlet and outlet valves together and another ferrofluid plug served as a reciprocating piston which actuated the working fluid. Therefore two external NdFeB permanent magnets driven by stepper motors were used.
Piston micropump with ferrofluidic valves
The CFD simulation of the ferrofluidic piston micropump was performed by solving the three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations using a finite volume method. The Volume of Fluid (VOF) model is used to solve the two-phase flow. The real effects of the external magnetic actuators are considered as time-dependent volumetric forces exerting on magnetic liquid plugs.