Wave Model for Valveless Pumping based on Impedance and Resonance

Valveless pumping can be achieved through the periodic compression of a pliant tube asymmetrically from its interfaces to different tubing or reservoirs. Flow and pressure measurements revealed resonant properties of the pump mechanics that suggest a mechanism of how the pump functions based on wave propagation and reflections. For each compression, a pair of pressure waves is created. These waves will travel, reflect, dissipate, distort and interact. The sum of these behaviors is responsible for the net pressures and flows observed. A simple mathematical model of wave interactions in conjunction with the geometric properties of the experiments showed remarkable agreement with the experimental results.