Title :
Bidirectional Electrothermal Actuator With Z-Shaped Beams
Author :
Zhu, Yong ; Moheimani, S. O Reza ; Yuce, Mehmet Rasit
Author_Institution :
Sch. of Eng., Griffith Univ., Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
fDate :
7/1/2012 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
A bidirectional micro-actuator powered by electrothermal force is successfully demonstrated under both dc and ac operations, without the assistance of magnetic field, using MetalMUMPs process. To achieve small stiffness without buckling, which tends to occur in V-shaped actuators, a new Z-shaped electrothermal actuator is designed. With the actuation current from -13 mA to +13 mA, the electrothermal actuator can achieve a bidirectional motion in a dynamic range from -11.6 μm to +12.8 μm. Experimentally obtained frequency response of the actuator indicates that it has a bandwidth of 49 Hz.
Keywords :
electric actuators; frequency response; microactuators; MetalMUMP process; V-shaped actuators; Z-shaped beams; Z-shaped electrothermal actuator; bandwidth 49 MHz; bidirectional electrothermal actuator; bidirectional microactuator; current -13 mA to 13 mA; electrothermal force; frequency response; magnetic field; Actuators; Bandwidth; Bidirectional control; Dynamic range; Educational institutions; Finite element methods; Heating; Bidirectional motion; electrothermal actuator; microsystem design;
Journal_Title :
Sensors Journal, IEEE
DOI :
10.1109/JSEN.2012.2194141
