Abstract
A flow visualization of a liquid crystal was conducted under the application of an electric field in a mini cylinder with electrode strips on the inner surface. Three-phase alternating currents were used as rotation electric fields to generate the rotational flow of the liquid crystal. A pump with a spiral flow channel was designed based on the rotational flow mechanism of the liquid crystal by using the three-phase alternating currents. The relation between the maximum pressure and the shape of the flow channel in the pump was investigated for various amplitudes of electric fields. Furthermore, pressure-flow rate characteristics of the pump were measured. The maximum pressure increased when we used a liquid crystal with a high dielectric constant for the constant voltage. Dimensional analysis was conducted to arrange the characteristics of the present pump simply and the non-dimensional flow rate and pressure were almost on one line. The size of our pump can be decreased by further research. This study contributes to the development of a micro-pump in micro-fabricated systems and our pump eliminates mechanical vibration and noise.
