Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 1 of 1
Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Modeling And Control Of Surface Micromachined Thermal Actuators, Robert K. Messenger
Modeling And Control Of Surface Micromachined Thermal Actuators, Robert K. Messenger
Theses and Dissertations
A model that accurately describes the transient and steady-state response of thermal microactuators is desirable to provide guidance for design and operation. However, modeling the full response of thermal actuators is challenging due to the temperature-dependent material properties and nonlinear deformations that must be included to obtain accurate results. To meet these challenges a three-dimensional multi-physics nonlinear finite-element model was developed using commercial code. The Thermomechanical Inplane Microactuator (TIM) was chosen as a candidate application to validate the model. TIMs were fabricated using the SUMMiT V™ process and their response was measured using a high-speed camera. The TIMs were modeled …