Electro-Thermo-Mechanical Analysis: Scaling Laws & Simulations

This lecture covers the analysis of electro-thermo-mechanical systems in micro and nanosystems, focusing on topics such as thermal bimorphs, coefficient of thermal expansion, temperature-dependent material properties, and device profile analyses. The instructor explains the multiphysics simulations, electro-thermo-mechanical coupling, and the effects of temperature on material properties. Various actuators like hot-arm, cold-arm, and V-type/chevron actuators are discussed, along with the simulation of deflection in cantilevers with different materials. The lecture also delves into thermomechanical actuators, coupled field problems, and one-way vs. two-way coupling in simulations, emphasizing the interplay between electrical, thermal, and structural aspects in microactuators.

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Related concepts (18)

MICRO-470: Scaling laws & simulations in micro & nanosystems

This class combines an analytical and finite elements modeling (FEM) simulations approach to scaling laws in MEMS/NEMS. The dominant physical effects and scaling effects when downsizing sensors and ac

Thermomechanical analysis

Thermomechanical analysis (TMA) is a technique used in thermal analysis, a branch of materials science which studies the properties of materials as they change with temperature. Thermomechanical analysis is a subdiscipline of the thermomechanometry (TM) technique. Thermomechanometry is the measurement of a change of a dimension or a mechanical property of the sample while it is subjected to a temperature regime. An associated thermoanalytical method is thermomechanical analysis.

Thermal analysis

Thermal analysis is a branch of materials science where the properties of materials are studied as they change with temperature.

Temperature

Temperature is a physical quantity that expresses quantitatively the perceptions of hotness and coldness. Temperature is measured with a thermometer. Thermometers are calibrated in various temperature scales that historically have relied on various reference points and thermometric substances for definition. The most common scales are the Celsius scale with the unit symbol °C (formerly called centigrade), the Fahrenheit scale (°F), and the Kelvin scale (K), the latter being used predominantly for scientific purposes.

Thermodynamic temperature

Thermodynamic temperature is a quantity defined in thermodynamics as distinct from kinetic theory or statistical mechanics. Historically, thermodynamic temperature was defined by Lord Kelvin in terms of a macroscopic relation between thermodynamic work and heat transfer as defined in thermodynamics, but the kelvin was redefined by international agreement in 2019 in terms of phenomena that are now understood as manifestations of the kinetic energy of free motion of microscopic particles such as atoms, molecules, and electrons.

Simulation

A simulation is the imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system over time. Simulations require the use of models; the model represents the key characteristics or behaviors of the selected system or process, whereas the simulation represents the evolution of the model over time. Often, computers are used to execute the simulation. Simulation is used in many contexts, such as simulation of technology for performance tuning or optimizing, safety engineering, testing, training, education, and video games.