The design and analysis of a rotary motion electrostatic actuator

Tan , Aik Choon (2014) The design and analysis of a rotary motion electrostatic actuator. Project Report. UTeM. (Submitted)

Text THE DESIGN AND ANALYSIS OF A ROTARY MOTION ELECTROSTATIC ACTUATOR 24pages.pdf Download (1MB)

Abstract

Research and development in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or most generally defined as miniaturized electromechanical elements, have made outstanding progress. MEMS consist of micromechanisms such as microstructures, microactuators, microsensors and their control circuits. There are two types of microactuator used in MEMS which are linear motion and rotary motion. Both types of actuator consist of electromagnetic, electrostatic, thermal, shape-memory alloy and others. Each type of actuator has its own advantages and drawbacks. This report provides a brief comparison of those actuators and overview of the design of two types of rotary motion electrostatic actuator. It focuses on the thrust force produced when different parameters are manipulated for both designs. Both designs are set to have the same size which is 1.4mm in diameter and thickness is 50μm; both designs have the same number of electrode for stator and rotor too which are twelve electrodes and sixteen electrodes respectively. To analyse the thrust force produce, Ansys Maxwell3D is used as a tool to design and analyse the two rotary motion electrostatic actuators. Three simulations have been carried out; first, vary the actuator size; second, vary the actuator thickness; third, vary the number of electrode. With the same rotor size, thickness, gap, and number of electrode, the results show that bottom-drive electrostatic actuator has better performance than side-drive electrostatic actuator through simulation.

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