Experimentally Matched Finite Element Modeling of Thermally Actuated SOI MEMS Micro-Grippers Using COMSOL Multiphysics

M. Guvench[1], and J. Crosby[1]
[1]University of Southern Maine, Gorham, Maine, USA
Published in 2009

In “Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems” shortly known as MEMS, one of the most important and effective principle of creating transduction of electrical power to displacement force is thermal expansion. A slim beam of MEMS material, typically Silicon, is heated by the application of electrical current via Joule heating; it expands and creates motion. In the design of many MEMS devices this method of transduction is preferred because of the orders of magnitude larger forces it can create in comparison with the forces created with the ubiquitous electrostatic comb drives. COMSOL Multiphysics and its MEMS Module have proven to be the right tool for such a problem.

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