Investigation of a diaphragm–valve adaptive piezoelectric stack pump with a conical plug valve structure

• A novel piezoelectric pump with self-adaptive diaphragm–valve coordination is proposed. • The second-order longitudinal vibration mode ensures natural synchronization. • A semicircular elastomer maximizes actuator output via structural resonance. • Fluid–structure interaction confirms efficient flow under resonant conditions. • Prototype testing achieves 63.4 mL/min flow, with only 7.7% deviation from simulation. Piezoelectric pumps have attracted significant attention in the field of fluid transport. However, most conventional piezoelectric pumps rely on structural resonance and often suffer from poor synchronization between the pump diaphragm and the check valve, which limits their efficiency. This study proposes a novel adaptive piezoelectric stack pump featuring a self-coordinated diaphragm–valve mechanism. The core structure of the pump was designed, and the optimal geometry of the elastomer component was determined. Finite element simulations were conducted to analyze the vibration amplitude of the actuator system. The results show that a semicircular elastomer with a radius of 10 mm, a thickness of 1.0 mm, and a width of 4 mm achieves the highest simulated flow rate of 68.3 mL/min. A prototype was fabricated and tested on a custom-built flow measurement platform. At a driving voltage of 150 V, the experimental flow rate reached 63.4 mL/min, corresponding to only a 7.7% deviation from the simulated value, thereby validating the proposed design approach. This study introduces a new pumping mechanism and offers valuable insights for the innovative development of high-performance piezoelectric pumps.