Study on pump using liquid crystalline flow under electric field

Issue title: Proceedings from the 16th International Symposium on Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics (ISEM 2013)

Guest editors: Xavier Maldague and Toshiyuki Takagi

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Tsukiji, Tetsuhiro^{a; *} | Miyahara, Kohei^a

Affiliations: [a] Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Sophia University, Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo | Université Laval, Canada | Tohoku University, Japan

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Tetsuhiro Tsukiji, Department of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Sophia University, 7-1 Kioi-cho, Chiyoda-ku, 102-8554, Tokyo. Tel.: +81 3 3238 3818; Fax: +81 3 3238 3311; E-mail: t-tukiji@sophia.ac.jp

Abstract: This paper presents small pumps to transport liquid crystal, herein called a liquid crystal pump. The mechanism of liquid crystalline flow by applying an electric field to the liquid crystal is used to generate one-directional flow in a pump. In this study, the pressure-flow rate characteristics of the pump were measured and the relationships between the non-dimensional flow rate and pressure of the pump were obtained. In addition the silicone oil is also used to compare the flow phenomenon with the liquid crystalline flow under application of the electric field. The structure of a liquid crystal pump is simple and the size can be decreased by further research. So our pump has a good possibility for use in cooling system because it makes no noise and no mechanical vibrations.

Keywords: Actuator, pump, flow visualization, liquid crystal, silicone oil

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-141818

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 45, no. 1-4, pp. 101-107, 2014