Linear Thermomechanical Microactuators

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Cragun ◽  
Larry L. Howell

Abstract Thermomechanical in-plane microactuators (TIMs) have been designed, modeled, fabricated, and tested. TIMs offer an alternative to arrays of smaller thermal actuators to obtain high output forces. The design is easily modified to obtain the desired output force or deflection for specific applications. The operational principle is based on the symmetrical thermal expansion of variable cross sections of the surface micromachined microdevice. Sixteen configurations of TIMs were fabricated of polysilicon. Finite element analysis models were used to predict the deflection and output force for the actuators. Experimental results were also recorded for all sixteen configurations, including deflections and output forces up to 20 micron and 35 dyne.

Author(s):  
Kevin O’Shea

Abstract The use of finite element analysis (FEA) in high frequency (20–40 kHz), high power ultrasonics to date has been limited. Of paramount importance to the performance of ultrasonic tooling (horns) is the accurate identification of pertinent modeshapes and frequencies. Ideally, the ultrasonic horn will vibrate in a purely axial mode with a uniform amplitude of vibration. However, spurious resonances can couple with this fundamental resonance and alter the axial vibration. This effect becomes more pronounced for ultrasonic tools with larger cross-sections. The current study examines a 4.5″ × 6″ cross-section titanium horn which is designed to resonate axially at 20 kHz. Modeshapes and frequencies from 17–23 kHz are examined experimentally and using finite element analysis. The effect of design variables — slot length, slot width, and number of slots — on modeshapes and frequency spacing is shown. An optimum configuration based on the finite element results is prescribed. The computed results are compared with actual prototype data. Excellent correlation between analytical and experimental data is found.


Author(s):  
David Ross-Pinnock ◽  
Glen Mullineux

Control of temperature in large-scale manufacturing environments is not always practical or economical, introducing thermal effects including variation in ambient refractive index and thermal expansion. Thermal expansion is one of the largest contributors to measurement uncertainty; however, temperature distributions are not widely measured. Uncertainties can also be introduced in scaling to standard temperature. For more complex temperature distributions with non-linear temperature gradients, uniform scaling is unrealistic. Deformations have been measured photogrammetrically in two thermally challenging scenarios with localised heating. Extended temperature measurement has been tested with finite element analysis to assess a compensation methodology for coordinate measurement. This has been compared to commonly used uniform scaling and has outperformed this with a highly simplified finite element analysis simulation in scaling a number of coordinates at once. This work highlighted the need for focus on reproducible temperature measurement for dimensional measurement in non-standard environments.


2011 ◽  
Vol 14 ◽  
pp. 2021-2030 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiaki Goto ◽  
Ghosh Prosenjit Kumar ◽  
Kazumasa Seki

Author(s):  
Chensong Dong

The coefficients of thermal expansion (CTEs) of fiber reinforced composites play an important role in the design and analysis of composite structures. Since the thermal expansion coefficients of polymer matrix materials are typically much higher than those of fibers, and the fiber often exhibits anisotropic thermal and mechanical properties, the stress induced in the composite due to temperature change is very complex. Large discrepancies exist among the analytical models for the transverse CTE of unidirectional composites. Hence, it is problematic when choosing a suitable model. With the development of computer technologies, finite element analysis (FEA) proved its effectiveness in calculating the effective CTE of composites. In this study, the transverse CTEs of unidirectional carbon fiber composites were calculated by finite element analysis using a representative unit cell. The analytical micromechanical models from literature were compared against the FEA data. It shows that Hashin’s concentric cylinder model is the best. However, it is inconvenient for practical applications due to the amount of computation. In this study, based on the FEA data, an engineering model for predicting the transverse CTE of unidirectional composites was developed by regression analysis. This model was validated against the FEA and experimental data. It shows that the developed model provides a simple and accurate approach to calculate the transverse CTE of unidirectional composites.


Author(s):  
Muhammad Zubair Muis Alie ◽  
Ganding Sitepu ◽  
Juswan Sade ◽  
Wahyuddin Mustafa ◽  
Andi Mursid Nugraha ◽  
...  

This paper discusses the influence of asymmetrically damaged ships on the ultimate hull girder strength. When such damages take place at the asymmetric location of cross sections, not only translation but also inclination of instantaneous neutral axis takes place during the process of the progressive collapse. To investigate this effect, the Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is employed and the damage is assumed in the middle hold. The collision damage is modeled by removing the plate and stiffener elements at the damage region assuming the complete loss of the capacity at the damage part. For the validation results obtained by Finite Element Analysis of the asymmetrically damaged ship hull girder, the simplified method is adopted. The Finite Element method of ultimate strength analysis of a damaged hull girder can be a practical tool for the ship hull girder after damages, which has become one of the functional requirements in IMO Goal Based Ship Construction Standard.


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