FEM-Analysis of 2D Micromachined Flow Transduers based on aGe-Thermistor Arrays and a Double Bridge Readout

Sensors

Roman Beigelbeck¹  Franz Kohl¹  Almir Talic¹  Thilo Sauter¹  Samir Cerimovic¹  Franz Keplinger² 

[1] Department for Integrated Sensor Systems, Danube University Krems, Viktor-Kaplan Straße 2, A-2700 Wiener Neustadt, Austria;Institute of Sensor and Actuator Systems, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstraße 27-29, A-1040 Vienna, Austria;

关键词: micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS);    wind sensor;    finite element method (FEM);    Wheatstone bridge configuration;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s19163561

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This paper reports on a design and simulation study aiming at high-accuracy 2D micromachined thermal flow transducers. The scope is restricted to micromachined devices featuring a square-shaped membrane incorporating central symmetric thin-film devices. A microthermistor array probed spatial excess temperature variations while the main heat supply was alternatively established by optional heating resistors or by pronounced self-heating of the thermistor devices. Proper device designs enable leading edge transducer performance without sophisticated signal conditioning schemes. We found that a high azimuthal uniformity of flow magnitude transduction is tantamount to a precise azimuthal accuracy. The most advanced result gave a maximum azimuthal aberration of 0.17 and 1.7 degrees for 1 m/s and 10 m/s, respectively, while the corresponding magnitude uniformity amounted to 0.07% and 0.5%. Such excellent specifications exceed the need of ordinary meteorological applications by far. However, they are essential for, e.g., precise non-contact measurements of 2D relative movements of two quasi-planar surfaces via the related Couette flow in intermediate air gaps. The simulations predicted significantly better device characteristics than achieved by us in first experiments. However, this gap could be attributed to imperfect control of the flow velocity field by the measurement setup.

【 授权许可】

Unknown