Dynamic simulation of an electrostatic micropump with pull-in and hysteresis phenomena

After presenting the role of micropumps in medical applications and demonstrating that an electrostatic micropump would seem to be the most appropriate, the geometrical and electrical static characteristics of this pump are summarized. Classical dynamic simulations do not take into account the pull-in effect or the hysteresis phenomenon, both of which appear in electrostatic micropumps. The novel principle of dynamic simulation, which includes these two non-linear characteristics, is then outlined; changes in pressure, volume, how and current are also calculated. The last section displays the advantages associated with this global simulation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.