Comprehensive Thermal Modeling of ElectroThermoElastic Microstructures

Actuators

关键词: electrothermal modeling;    MEMS;    micro grasper;    end-effector;   

DOI  :  10.3390/act1010021

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Bent and folded beam configurations have been popularly used in electrothermoelastic (E-T) actuation. This paper introduces new designs of thermal end-effector with micro-grasping and micro-heating capabilities. We obtained analytical models for all possible steady state temperature responses of suspended and overhanging microstructures that constitute bent beam, folded beam, and combined actuators. Generally, the thermal response of E-T microstructures is sensitive to the boundary conditions, particularly for high power input. Thermal models have predicted the failure due to melting, which is the most common reason for failure of E-T devices, and it often occurs in the longest and the thinnest microstructure.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.