3D-Printed, Peristaltic Vacuum Pumps for Compact Applications

We report the design, fabrication, and characterization of the first compact, peristaltic vacuum pumps fabricated via additive manufacturing. Peristaltic pumps are attractive to create and maintain vacuum because they transport fluids using a long-stroke actuator. However, in practice, peristaltic pumps are not used as vacuum sources due to the limited fatigue life of the actuator when driven to fully close. To overcome this issue, this study reports a novel pump design that introduces two key improvements, i.e., (i) the actuator is made of a printable, highly compliant material, and (ii) the cross-section of the actuator is designed to attain a low stress concentration while still fully closing when actuated. Characterization of the peristaltic vacuum pumps yielded an ultimate pressure of ~400 Torr (about half an atmosphere of vacuum). The presented hardware can be used as a stand-alone rough pump or to back up high-vacuum pumps in compact systems that require clean vacuum to operate, e.g., deployable analytical platforms.