Solid micromechanical valves fabricated with in situ UV-LIGA assembled nickel

In situ UV-LIGA assembled robust microcheck valves with large flow rates (>10ml/s, displacement related), high-pressure support ability (>10MPa) and high operational frequencies (>10kHz) made of nano-structured nickel were presented in this paper. The microvalve consists of an array of 80 single microvalves to achieve the required flow rates. A novel in situ UV-LIGA process was developed for the fabrication. Test results show that the forward flow rate is about 19ml/s under pressure of 90psi. The backward flow rate is negligible. The loading/unloading test results show that the flow rates were repeated very well over a large range of tested pressure differences. The reliability of the valve is ensured by the low stress valve design and the robust nano-structured nickel material fabricated.

本文介绍了采用原位紫外光刻电铸成型（UV - LIGA）技术制备的坚固的微型止回阀，该阀由纳米结构镍制成，具有大流量（>10毫升/秒，与排量相关）、高压承受能力（>10兆帕）和高工作频率（>10千赫兹）。微型阀由80个单个微型阀组成的阵列构成，以实现所需的流量。开发了一种新颖的原位UV - LIGA工艺用于制造。测试结果表明，在90磅力/平方英寸的压力下，正向流量约为19毫升/秒，反向流量可忽略不计。加载/卸载测试结果表明，在较大的测试压差范围内，流量重复性良好。通过低应力阀设计和所制备的坚固的纳米结构镍材料确保了阀门的可靠性。