Virtual Prototyping and Beam Optimization of Resonant Micro Pressure Sensors

Authors

  • S Meenatchisundaram Department of Instrumentation and Control Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Karnataka, India
  • S M Kulkarni Department of Mechanical Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Surathkal, Karnataka, India
  • Somashekara Bhat Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering, Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal, Karnataka, India

Abstract

T

he overall performance of a resonant beam micro pressure sensor largely depends on the mechanical aspects of the beam. Mechanical features include the geometry of the micro beam, its support structure and position of the beam on the diaphragm. The aim of this paper is to virtually prototype and analyzes the characteristics of a resonant beam micro pressure sensor and optimizes the beam geometry in terms of linearity and sensitivity. Two of the methods namely Classical Method (Bouwstra Method) and Rayleigh-Ritz Method which are based on the deflection of the beam are employed to arrive at an expression for the resonant frequency. The model is virtually prototyped using Comsol Multiphysics, an industrial standard Finite Element Method (FEM) tool. The results are compared and the design specifications are validated. Later the analytical expressions are used with genetic algorithm to obtain the optimum dimensions of the beam.


Keywords: resonant beam, micro pressure sensor, Bouwstra method, Rayleigh-Ritz method, geometry optimization, genetic algorithm

Published

2015-01-16

Issue

Vol. 1 No. 3 (2014)

Section

Review Articles