Metal additive manufacturing of a high-pressure micro-pump

Wessel Willems Wits, Sander J. Weitkamp, J. van Es, Johannes van Es

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

48 Citations (Scopus)
341 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

For the thermal control of future space applications pumped two-phase loops are an essential part to handle the increasing thermal power densities. This study investigates the design of a reliable, leak tight, low-weight and high-pressure micro-pump for small satellite applications. The developed micro-pump uses a piezoelectric disk to create a pressure head and propel the working fluid. The micro-pumps are produced from Titanium alloy (Ti6Al4 V) using Selective Laser Melting (SLM) as a metal additive manufacturing technique. Two types of micro-valve designs are explored, namely (1) no moving parts valves and (2) passive check valves. Experimental validation shows promising results especially for micro-pumps using passive check micro-valves. Finally, the assembly of the entire micro-pump has been designed for SLM production. In the end, this would enable the future use of micro- pumps for space applications. Metal additive manufacturing, as relatively new manufacturing system, showcases promising results for both research work and final product
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)252-257
JournalProcedia CIRP
Volume7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 May 2013
Event46th CIRP Conference on Manufacturing Systems, CIRP CMS 2013 - Setúbal, Portugal
Duration: 29 May 201331 May 2013
Conference number: 46

Keywords

  • IR-90794
  • METIS-297110

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Metal additive manufacturing of a high-pressure micro-pump'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this