Diaphragm design improvement for a metering pump

Since the membrane has to separate the process fluid from the oil circuit in metering diaphragm pumps, it is the critical component of these machines. Sometimes, depending on the operating conditions, the membrane may crack and it is necessary to disassemble the pump and replace this component part. Therefore it is important to improve the design of the membrane to avoid this. In this paper, the behaviour of a membrane mounted in a metering diaphragm pump has been simulated by using f.e.m. An accurate analysis of the results has allowed the membrane to be redesigned in a more rational way and to improve its performance.