This thesis describes the development of a MEMS repulsive actuator capable of producing a large out-of-plane force. Existing MEMS repulsive actuators are low out-of-plane force actuators that are unable to support or lift a mass of 1 mg. A high force MEMS repulsive actuator was developed to overcome this limitation. The design was optimized employing parameters of the actuator’s fingers to increase the out-of-plane force. A design was developed based on the analytical results derived from extending the mathematical model of an existing actuator. A commercial manufacturing process, PolyMUMPs, was used to fabricate a prototype which was tested to validate the analytical and computational results. The prototype achieved an out-of-plane displacement of 15 µm and a 0.2° angular rotation. The resonance frequency was 120 Hz, and the rise and fall times were measured as 14.5 ms and 3625 ms (3.6 sec), respectively. The estimated out-of-plane force is 40 µN.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/42983 |
| Date | 29 November 2013 |
| Creators | Khan, Imran Ahmed |
| Contributors | Ben Mrad, Ridha |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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