Sharif Digital Repository

The potential of phase change process in liquids at microscale has been a favorite for the scientists to fabricate this type of micropumps. To hold unidirectional flow in microchannels usually nozzle-diffuser arrangement is used. Due to the existence of difference in pressure drop in the nozzle and diffuser sections, one can see unidirectional flow through diffuser direction. The objective of this article is to analyze analytically the thermo-hydrodynamic behavior of the Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) bubble of a phase change micropump. Considering the simultaneous effects of hydrodynamic and thermal characteristics of the bubble in the bubble generation chamber, and temperature-saturation... 

Novel manufacturing technologies in micro scales, such as micro machining, guide us through constructing micro scale systems known as MEMS. These systems have a wide range of applications, from fabrication of electrostatic, magnetic, pneumatic sensors and actuators to micro mechanical gears and motors. Also, MEMS applications involve the manipulation of one or more fluids, known as microfluids. Simulation of flow through microchannels over nano particles has important applications in solid particles transport. In this flow, the rarefaction phenomenon will affect the flow behavior and its subsequent impacts such as aerodynamic drag forces. In this work, we use the Lattice Boltzmann method... 

For many low-powered portable and wireless electronic applications the finite energy density of chemical batteries places limits on their functional lifetime. Through the use of energy harvesting techniques, ambient vibration energy can be captured and converted into usable electricity in order to create self-powering systems which are not limited by finite battery energy. Typical energy harvesting systems are composed of two components, a transducer that converts the mechanical vibrations into electrical energy and a power converter that efficiently delivers the harvested energy to the electronic load. The practical design of energy harvesting systems must include both components and... 

Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters (PEH)’s are devices that by means of Piezoelectric effect, convert ambient vibrations directly into electricity.
PEHs are often modeled as a cantilever beam with two piezoelectric layer attached to its sides. Due to their high energy density, small dimensions and adaptability to harsh environment, PEHs are referred to be a suitable substitute for batteries in the near future.
In this study, a new design of PEH is introduced in which a piezoelectric actuator is placed within web of a PEH so that by applying appropriate voltage to it, the distance between the two flanges of the beam, and accordingly the moment of inertia of the beam, is adjusted such... 

In this research a microrobot constructed from three series connected microcantilever has been introduced and its behavior has been evaluated. Length of each microcantilever is about several hundred microns. Due to actuation of microrobot, piezoelectric has been employed. Considering one DOF of each microcantilever, this microrobot has three DOF. Manipulation and microscopy in nano and micron scale can be mentioned as main duties for this microrobot. In devices which are used for these purposes commonly parallel mechanisms are employed. Also in some devices such as AFM, samples are needed to be placed on platform. However in this study a serial mechanism has been employed which make this... 

Nowadays, microgyroscopes are among the most important products of MEMS. The production of small, precise and inexpensive gyroscopes has become possible as the result of recent developments in fabrication technology. In this thesis it is intended to introduce a new method for manufacturing more precise microgyroscopes regarding manufacture facilities. Using this new method, sensitivity and resistance of microgyroscopes are increased against noises which are primarily caused by vibration and rotation about undesirable axes. The rotational movement imposed on the gyro is detected through fluid flow within its torus channel. This transformation facilitates the measurement of the initial motion.... 

This thesis deals with the attitude estimation based on low cost sensor for a micro satellite in a circular, low earth orbit (LEO) and sensor calibration. With two body problem theory and Quaternion formulation, rotational motion is modeled. In addition gravity gradient effect is considered on satellite orbital elements. Using a 3-axis MEMS-based magnetometer and a sun sensor as two measurement systems, low cost attitude estimation is proposed. Bias and Scale factor are presented to model deterministic sensor error and white Gaussian noise to model stochastic sensor error. It is shown that by sensor calibration the estimation accuracy will improve. Non-linear estimation methods EKF, SRUKF... 

Photostrictive type of opto-thermo-electro-mechanical materials, called PbLaZrTi (PLZT), are a recently emerged family of smart materials, that are able to generate strains under illumination of near violet light and attract much attention in a variety of wireless and remote control applicati-ons, including the areas of material science and engineering, micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) and Optical MEMS, and smart structures. This research presents an analytical and finite element investigation into ultraviolet photo-induced multi-physics responses of 0-3 polarized PLZT photocantilever and a comparison of the measured bending displacement. The finite element formulation of the... 

A microbeam, actuated by electrostatic distributed force, is a flexible beam-shaped element attached to a fixed rigid substrate. Electrostatically actuated microbeams are extensively used in different applications such as signal filtering and mass sensing. When the input voltage exceeds a critical value, called pull-in voltage (V_pi), the flexible microbeam spontaneously deflects towards the rigid plate. Pull-in instability is a basic phenomenon considered in the design of the micro actuators. When the rate of voltage variation is low and consequently inertia has almost no influence on the microsystem behavior, the critical value of voltage is called static pull-in voltage (V_pi). However,... 

The importance of the motion measurement systems is obvious due to survey the number of people who have joint pains through wrong movements. Considering the medical device’s trend toward wearable systems, the necessity of portable measurement instruments which are independent from experimental setup, is undeniable. Motion measurement systems based on MEMS Inertial sensors are widely used these days because they are cheap and portable. However these systems have some defects such as error accumulation and increasing error due to magnetic disturbance or high acceleration motions. Multisensory data fusion along with compensator filters is the best solution in order to reduce these errors.... 

In this research, a functionally graded microbeam bonded with piezoelectric layers is analyzed under electric force. Static and dynamic instability due to the electric actuation is studied because of its importance in micro electro mechanical systems, especially in micro switches. In order to prevent pull-in instability, two piezoelectric layers are used as sensor and actuator. A charge amplifier is used to supply input voltage of the actuator from the output of the sensor layer. Using Hamilton's principle and Euler-Bernoulli theory, equation of motion of the system is obtained. It is shown that the load type (distributed or concentrated) applied to the microbeam from the piezoelectric... 

Recently, parametric excitation has been proposed and experimentally proven to provide micro gyroscopes with robustness to parameter variations and enhancement of sensitivity. harmonic excitation gyroscopes are very sensitive to response of a resonance at the resonant frequency; therefore it has to be created accurately. However, parametric excitation gyroscopes are not sensitive as a result of wide bound of frequency at drive mode, accordingly it is not necessary to be formed accurately in the same way as harmonic excitation gyroscope.
The produced stress at combs have a significance effect on robustness, sensitivity and calibration curves of parametric excitation gyroscope, as a... 

The recent breakthroughs in the lab-on-a-chip technology will not be directly used as clinical devices unless the specific applications are carefully tested and certified. As there is a growing trend towards microfluidic devices for biomedical research, an active microfluidic device was developed. Common microfabrication methods were used to develop a microchip to separate and concentrate live and dead cells based on the dielectrophoresis phenomenon. Unique capabilities of the dielectrophoresis phenomenon make it a powerful tool for micro particle manipulation in micro scale. In this research, geometry for the mentioned purpose is designed and optimized. Three-dimensional microelectrodes are... 

Nowadays, Specific applications of micro-mirrors in MEMS industry as actuartors have been found. In optical networks, these instruments are used to transfer data between optical fibers as an optical switch. According to the high desired precision for the relevant applications, many different aspects should be considered in controlling of these systems. Some of these criteria include: high speed response, overshoot elimination, minimal energy consumption by regulating the system inputs, minimal vibration, consideration of system uncertainities and some unmeasurable state variable, and system rubostness against environmental disturbances. In this research by addressing all of these... 

Due to importance of micro electromechanical systems (MEMS), inability of the classical continuum theory to predict the mechanical behavior of micro-scale structures accurately, and vast applications of finite element method (FEM) in modeling of the MEMS, in this dissertation, the static and dynamic mechanical behavior of electrostatically actuated micro structures has been investigated using newly developed finite elements based on strain gradient continuum theory. The governing equations and boundary conditions have been developed for longitudinal and torsional behavior of microbars as well as flexural behavior of Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko microbeams based on strain gradient... 

In this research, based on the strain gradient theory, mechanical behavior of functionally graded microbeams is analyzed and the results are used to investigate the static and dynamic responses of electrostatically actuated microswitches and microresonators.
The nonlinear governing equations of motion of functionally graded microbeams are derived using Hamilton’s principle. Afterward, the nonlinear model is implemented to analyze the mechanical response of electrostatically actuated microswitches and microresonators. Pull-in instability and nonlinear vibration of these components are investigated considering the effects of squeeze film damping, mid-plane stretching and initial curvature... 

During the past decade, micromachining technology has become available to fabricate micron-sized mechanical parts. The miniaturization of almost all types of devices and systems is arguably a greater opportunity for commercial profit and beneficial technological advances (e.g., micromechanical, microfluidic, microthermal, micromagnetic, microoptical and microchemical). However, instead of the traditional evolutionary engineering effort to reduce size and power while simultaneously increasing the performance of such a diverse set of systems, the field of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) represents an effort to radically transform the scale, performance and cost of these systems by... 

In this project, a size-dependent formulation is presented for mechanical analyses of inhomogeneous micro-plates based on the modified couple stress theory. The modified couple stress theory as a non-classical continuum theory has the ability to consider the small size effects in the mechanical behavior of the structures.The material properties are supposed arbitrarily to vary through the thickness of the plate. The governing differential equations of motion are derived for functionally graded plates utilizing variational approach. Based on the derived formulation, the static and free-vibration behaviors as well as buckling analysis of a rectangular functionally graded micro-plate are... 

In this thesis, the dynamic analysis of the scratch drive micromotor will be investigated. Scratch drive micromotor consists of a rotational arrangement of the scratch drive actuators (SDAs). SDAs that are actuated by using electrostatic force are used in a wide range of applications in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) due to their unique advantages such as large output force, long travel distance and high-precision step size. However implementing a physical model to describe the movement of the SDA is chalanging and little researches have been performed to model and analyse the SDAs, in porpuse of predicting the behavior of the SDA before final design and manufacturing. By reviewing...