Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Electrical Engineering
Committee Chair
Jennifer English
Committee Member
Rhonda Gaede
Committee Member
David Coe
Committee Member
David Pan
Committee Member
Robert Lindquist
Research Advisor
Jennifer English
Subject(s)
Microelectromechanical systems, Gyroscopes--Design and construction, Resonators--Design and construction, Flexure
Abstract
An investigation into the benefits of quadratically tapered flexures for MEMS resonators and gyroscopes is performed and compared to the traditional non-tapered flexure design. Quadratically tapered flexures exhibit constant strain along the outer edge of the flexure whereas non-tapered flexures have significant stress concentration near the base of the flexure. The investigation considers peak stress, thermoelastic damping (TED), nonlinearity, and sensitivity to manufacturing variations. The impact of inside corner fillets on peak stress, TED, and resonant frequency is also investigated. Five new anti-phase lever mechanism (APLM) configurations for resonators and gyroscopes are designed and analyzed using CoventorWare 10. Fabrication experiment results are presented for an array of resonator designs to substantiate the FEA findings. Quadratically tapered flexures are found to reduce stress and thermoelastic damping while maintaining similar sensitivity to manufacturing variations, but at the cost of a slight increase in nonlinearity.
Recommended Citation
Grantham, Brian, "Benefits of quadratically tapered flexures for MEMS resonators and gyroscopes" (2024). Dissertations. 405.
https://louis.uah.edu/uah-dissertations/405