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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Investigating Mems Devices In Flow Conditions Relevant To Flow-Through Systems., Mohammad Shafquatul Islam Dec 2023

Investigating Mems Devices In Flow Conditions Relevant To Flow-Through Systems., Mohammad Shafquatul Islam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Advancements in microscale actuating technologies has substantially expanded the possibilities of interacting with the surrounding environment. Microstructures that deflect in response to mechanical forces are one of the largest application areas of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). MEMS devices, functioning as sensors, actuators, and support structures, find applications in inertial sensors, pressure sensors, chemical sensors, and robotics, among others. Driven by the critical role of catalytic membrane reactors, this dissertation aims to evaluate enzyme activity on polymeric membranes and explore how fabrication methods from the field of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) can incorporate sensing and actuation into these porous surfaces. Toward …


Modeling, Simulation And Control Of Microrobots For The Microfactory., Zhong Yang May 2023

Modeling, Simulation And Control Of Microrobots For The Microfactory., Zhong Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Future assembly technologies will involve higher levels of automation in order to satisfy increased microscale or nanoscale precision requirements. Traditionally, assembly using a top-down robotic approach has been well-studied and applied to the microelectronics and MEMS industries, but less so in nanotechnology. With the boom of nanotechnology since the 1990s, newly designed products with new materials, coatings, and nanoparticles are gradually entering everyone’s lives, while the industry has grown into a billion-dollar volume worldwide. Traditionally, nanotechnology products are assembled using bottom-up methods, such as self-assembly, rather than top-down robotic assembly. This is due to considerations of volume handling of large …


Planar Element Alignment System, Benjamin E. Lavigna, Benny F. Cruz, Samuel Gierhan, Jacob Q. Henriksen Mar 2023

Planar Element Alignment System, Benjamin E. Lavigna, Benny F. Cruz, Samuel Gierhan, Jacob Q. Henriksen

Mechanical Engineering

Precise alignment to the micron level is a necessity for microfluidic/micromechanical devices to function as designed. Because of this, a micro-alignment device was commissioned by Professor Hans Mayer on behalf of the Cal Poly Microfluidics Laboratory. Prototype creation was bounded by a set of requirements including, ability to align PDMS & Silicon wafer halves to ± 10 microns, total process speed of three minutes, and total budget of $3000. Some major design hurdles included an ability to verify alignment, possible non-planar alignment pieces, and an inability to contact any point on the face of the alignment pieces after bonding treatment. …


Modeling The Effects Of Radiation On Microelectromechanical Resonators, David D. Lynes Mar 2023

Modeling The Effects Of Radiation On Microelectromechanical Resonators, David D. Lynes

Theses and Dissertations

As the use of MEMS becomes more prolific in air, space, defense, and power applications, they will be exposed to more extreme radiation environments. This dissertation explores the effects of ionizing and nonionizing radiation on MEMS. AlN-on-Si based piezoelectric bulk acoustic wave resonators were irradiated by gamma-rays and silicon ions while measuring S-parameters in situ. Changes to the resonator and equivalent circuit parameters are extracted. The resonators demonstrated resilience against the effects of radiation-induced charge trapping. However, radiation-induced atomic displacements caused shifts to resonant frequency. From these data, an atomistic model is derived to describe the relationship between radiation type …