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Pairing Electrostatic Levitation With Triboelectric Transduction For High-Performance Self-Powered Mems Sensors And Actuators, Mark Pallay, Alwathiqbellah I. Ibrahim, Ronald N. Miles, Shahrzad Towfighian Sep 2019

Pairing Electrostatic Levitation With Triboelectric Transduction For High-Performance Self-Powered Mems Sensors And Actuators, Mark Pallay, Alwathiqbellah I. Ibrahim, Ronald N. Miles, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

We demonstrate that an electrostatic levitation MEMS switch can be operated by applying mechanical pres- sure to a triboelectric generator. The toggling mechanism of the switch draws no current but requires a high actuating voltage, while the generator can supply a high voltage but only produces microwatts of power. The synergistic combination results in an entirely self-powered sensor and switch; the normally-closed MEMS switch can be toggled open by applying a threshold force to the generator without the need for any outside power or supplementary circuitry. A model of the MEMS switch and electrostatic force is validated with experimental data. …


Merging Parallel-Plate And Levitation Actuators To Enable Linearity And Tunability In Electrostatic Mems, Mark Pallay, Ronald N. Miles, Shahrzad Towfighian Jul 2019

Merging Parallel-Plate And Levitation Actuators To Enable Linearity And Tunability In Electrostatic Mems, Mark Pallay, Ronald N. Miles, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

In this study, a linear electrostatic MEMS actuator is introduced. The system consists of a MEMS cantilever beam with combined parallel-plate and electrostatic levitation forces. By using these two forcing methods simultaneously, the static response and natural frequency can be made to vary linearly with the voltage. The static response shows a linear increase of 90 nm/V and is maintained for more than 12μm of the tip displacement. The natural frequency shows a linear increase of 16 Hz/V and is maintained throughout a 2.9 kHz shift in the natural frequency. This wide range of linear displacement and frequency tunability is …


A Parametric Resonator With Low Threshold Excitation For Vibration Energy Harvesting, Shahrzad Towfighian, Wei Yang Apr 2019

A Parametric Resonator With Low Threshold Excitation For Vibration Energy Harvesting, Shahrzad Towfighian, Wei Yang

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

A parametric resonator for vibration energy harvesting is presented. Despite large responses from parametric resonance, two major drawbacks of parametric resonance harvesters are the high threshold excitation and narrow bandwidth. We addressed these two shortcomings by adding magnetic nonlinearity to the system. The proposed vibration energy harvester consists of two piezoelectric cantilevers beams, each with a magnetic tip. By controlling the distance between the two magnets, the threshold excitation level needed to trigger the parametric resonance decreases. Combining the softening and hardening behavior of the two magnetically coupled beams increases the frequency bandwidth. In addition, the amplitude of the response …


Dynamic Response Of A Tunable Mems Accelerometer Based On Repulsive Force, Meysam Daeichin, Mehmet Ozdogan, Shahrzad Towfighian, Ronald Miles Feb 2019

Dynamic Response Of A Tunable Mems Accelerometer Based On Repulsive Force, Meysam Daeichin, Mehmet Ozdogan, Shahrzad Towfighian, Ronald Miles

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

This paper describes a tunable MEMS electrostatic accelerometer that uses repulsive electrode configuration so that the design is not hampered by capacitive pull-in instability. The repulsive force configuration enables the increase of DC bias voltage without suffering from the pull-in failure mode. This flexibility in increasing voltage can be employed as a tuning parameter to widen the working frequency range and to improve the robustness of the accelerometer. A lumped parameter model is developed to simulate the response of the microstructure under a combination of electrostatic and dynamic mechanical loading. The electrostatic force is estimated using a finite element simulation. …


A Smart Knee Implant Using Triboelectric Energy Harvesters, Shahrzad Towfighian, Alwathiqbellah Ibrahim, Manav Jain, Emre Salman, Ryan Willing Jan 2019

A Smart Knee Implant Using Triboelectric Energy Harvesters, Shahrzad Towfighian, Alwathiqbellah Ibrahim, Manav Jain, Emre Salman, Ryan Willing

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

Although the number of total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries is growing rapidly, functionality and pain-reduction outcomes remain unsatisfactory for many patients. Continual monitoring of knee loads after surgery offers the potential to improve surgical procedures and implant designs. The goal of this study is to characterize a triboelectric energy harvester under body loads and to design compatible frontend electronics to digitize the load data. The harvester prototype would be placed between the tibial component and polyethylene bearing of a TKR implant. The harvester generates power from the compressive load. To examine the harvester output and the feasibility of powering a …


Dynamics Of A Threshold Shock Sensor: Combining Bi-Stability And Triboelectricity, Daniel S. Nelson, Alwathiqbellah Ibrahim, Shahrzad Towfighian Jan 2019

Dynamics Of A Threshold Shock Sensor: Combining Bi-Stability And Triboelectricity, Daniel S. Nelson, Alwathiqbellah Ibrahim, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

A proof of concept of a triboelectric threshold shock sensor and its characterization are presented. Shock sensors are used in many applications in the automotive, shipping and other industries, mainly to determine if acceleration thresholds are met. Many shock sensors are only mechanical, so the only way to know if the threshold has been reached is to physically check the device. There are noticeable advantages of using triboelectric transduction and bi-stability to create a shock sensor. By combining a buckled-beam structure and a triboelectric generator, we created a proof of concept of a tunable threshold shock sensor. The sensor generates …


A Tunable Electrostatic Mems Pressure Switch, Mark Pallay, Ronald N. Miles, Shahrzad Towfighian Jan 2019

A Tunable Electrostatic Mems Pressure Switch, Mark Pallay, Ronald N. Miles, Shahrzad Towfighian

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Scholarship

We demonstrate a tunable air pressure switch. The switch detects when the ambient pressure drops below a threshold value and automatically triggers without the need for any computational overhead to read the pressure or trigger the switch. The switch exploits the significant fluid interaction of a MEMS beam undergoing a large oscillation from electrostatic levitation to detect changes in ambient pressure. If the oscillation amplitude near the resonant frequency is above a threshold level, dynamic pullin is triggered and the switch is closed. The pressure at which the switch closes can be tuned by adjusting the voltage applied to the …