Microactuators are needed to convert energy into mechanical work at the microscale. Thermal microactuators can be used to produce this needed mechanical work. The purpose of this research was to design, fabricate, and test thermal microactuators for use at the microscale in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The microactuators developed were tested to determine the magnitude of their deflection and estimate their force. Five groups of thermal microactuators were designed and tested. All of the groups used the geometrically constrained expansion of various segments to produce their deflection. The first group, Thermal Expansion Devices (TEDs), produced a rotational displacement and had deflections up to 20 µm. The second group, Bi-directional Thermal Expansion Devices (Bi-TEDs) were similar to the TEDs. The difference, as the name implies, was that the Bi-TEDs deflected up to 6 µm in two directions. Thermomechanical In-plane Micromechanisms (TIMs) were the third group tested. They produced a linear motion up to 20 µm. The fourth group was the Rapid Expansion Bi-directional Actuators (REBAs). These microactuators were bi-directional and produced up to 12 µm deflection in each direction. The final group of thermal microactuators was the Joint Actuating Micro-mechanical Expansion Systems (JAMESs). These thermal microactuators rotated pin joints up to 8 degrees. The thermal microactuators studied can be used in a wide variety of applications. They can move ratchets, position valves, move switches, change devices, or make connections. The thermal microactuator groups have their own unique advantages. The TIMS can be tailored for the amount of deflection and output force they produce. This will allow them to replace some microactuator arrays and decrease the space used for actuation. The Bi-TEDs and REBAs are bi-directional and can possibly replace two single direction micro-actuators. The JAMESs can be attached directly to a pin joint of an existing mechanism. These advantages allow these thermal microactuator groups to be used for a wide variety of applications.

Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-21T20:42:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 EduardoNascimento.pdf: 8910148 bytes, checksum: f4ffc847b7369fe32fba17b11a5c5bdc (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-11 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The degradation of polymer blends has been the subject of few scientific studies. Further studies are of great importance for understanding the degradation mechanisms in polymer blends. The degradation of the blend of HDPE / PS was studied as a function of their composition, processing temperature and number of processes. The material was extruded in a twin screw extruder co-rotacional interpenetrating at temperatures of 200, 240 and 280 ° C, reprocessed five times in the compositions of 25/75, 50/50 and 75/25 % (w.t) HDPE / PS, in addition to pure materials. An estimate of the distribution curve of molecular weight was made using data from parallel plate rheometry and degradation characteristics of the groups were analyzed by infrared spectroscopy with Fourier transformants. The results reveal two distinct regions of behavior in relation to the degradation of the blend. A domain with the mechanism of degradation of PS in which random chain scission occurs without the change in polydispersity, extending from pure PS to blend 50% HDPE / 50% PS. In this region the behavior is closer to the additivity of effects between the pure materials, tending to the field of mechanism of PS and greater balance between the mechanisms in that it increased the concentration of HDPE. It is inferred that this behavior go to about 40% of PS, where nearly co-continuity occurs between the phases. Another region is seen from the 75% HDPE blend. 25% PS to the pure HDPE, where the dominant mechanism is HDPE, with predominant chain branching and polydispersity increased at lower temperatures, in this case 200 ° C, and high rise of chain scission at higher temperatures, 280 ° C. In this region there is a synergistic effect towards the mechanism of HDPE, i.e. the addition of 25% of BP leads to a show very similar behavior to that of pure HDPE, distinguishing the effect of additivity. There is greater resistance to oxidation, synergistic effect, especially in the composition of 75% HDPE/PS 25% attributed to the dispersed morphology of the blends in this composition. / A degradação de blendas poliméricas tem sido alvo de poucos trabalhos científicos. Estudos mais aprofundados são de grande importância para o entendimento dos mecanismos de degradação em misturas de polímeros. A degradação da blenda PEAD/PS foi estudada em função da sua composição, temperatura de processamento e número de processamentos. O material foi extrudado numa extrusora dupla rosca corrotacional interpenetrantes nas temperaturas de 200, 240 e 280 °C, reprocessada cinco vezes nas composições de 25/75, 50/50 e 75/25 % (g/g) PEAD/PS, além dos materiais puros. Uma estimativa da curva de distribuição de massa molar foi feita através de dados de reometria de placas paralelas e os grupos característicos da degradação foram analisados por espectroscopia de infravermelho com transformada de Fourier. Os resultados revelam duas regiões de comportamentos distintos em relação à degradação da blenda. Uma com domínio do mecanismo de degradação do PS, no qual ocorre cisão aleatória das cadeias sem a variação da polidispersão, estendendo-se do PS puro até a blenda 50 % PEAD/ 50% PS. Nesta região o comportamento fica mais próximo à aditividade dos efeitos entre os materiais puros, tendendo para o domínio do mecanismo do PS e maior equilíbrio entre os mecanismos na medida em que é aumentada a concentração de PEAD. Infere-se que este comportamento siga até cerca de 40 % de PS, aproximadamente onde ocorre a cocontinuidade entre as fases. Outra região é vista a partir da blenda 75 % PEAD. 25 % PS até o PEAD puro, onde o mecanismo dominante é o do PEAD, apresentando preponderante ramificação de cadeia e aumento da polidispersão em menores temperaturas, neste caso 200 °C, e elevado aumento da cisão de cadeia em temperaturas maiores, 280 °C. Nesta região encontra-se um efeito sinérgico no sentido do mecanismo do PEAD, ou seja, a adição de 25 % de PS mostra conduz a um comportamento muito próximo ao de PEAD puro, distinguindo-se d efeito da aditividade. Há uma maior resistência à oxidação, efeito sinérgico, principalmente na composição 75 % PEAD. 25 % PS atribuído à morfologia dispersa da blenda nessa composição.