Design and Simulation of the WIMS-GC Vacuum Pump

Graduate Student, University of Michigan
ABSTRACT: Over the last decade micropumps have attracted a great deal of attention in the MEMS community. This presentation details the theoretical analyses and experimental characterization of high-frequency multi-stage micro pumps. Specifically, a new concept in MEMS-fabricated micro pumps that has been developed for use in a highly-integrated chemical monitoring system under development at the University of Michigan's Wireless Integrated Micro-Systems center. Past micropumps do not meet the WIMS flow and pressure requirements. In this presentation we report thermodynamic analysis, reduced order models, and CFD analysis used to predict the WIMS micropump performance. Tests are reported on a 20x meso-scale 2-stage pump developed to validate the theoretical analyses. Detailed comparisons of the pump performance and unsteady pressure traces show that the theoretical analyses capture the main features of the flow in the pump. A MEMS-fabricated device has been developed and tested. The use of theoretical analyses for the design of the pump is described. This device produces a maximum flow of 1.1 ccm and a maximum pressure of 879 Pa.
BIO: Aaron Astle received a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University in 2001. During his undergraduate education, Aaron helped lead the development of a student fabricated hybrid sounding rocket and was also research assistant for an x-ray optics company. He assisted in the development of the smallest solid state and thermionic x-ray tubes to that date. In December 2002, Aaron received his MS in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan. In December of 2003, he became a PhD candidate and is now progressing toward his Ph.D. in the same subject. Aaron's research has been to develop and validate theoretical models to predict performance of multistage micropumps. These micropumps will be used in a highly integrated chemical monitoring system under development at the University of Michigan's Wireless Integrated Micro-Systems center.