Interdisciplinary considerations on the design of MEMS actuators from a perspective of their optimality

摘要

Highlights?Minimal design changes in existing MEMS actuators can potentially lead to the noticeable improvements of the system.?A case study considering an electrostatic rotational parallel-plate actuator under sliding mode control is presented.?We demonstrate that the control strategy of the actuator is a substantial part of the system.?Various design flaws of existing actuators are pointed out in this paper.AbstractVarious phenomena are emerging in existing micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). In order to fully exploit the potential of such systems, a synergy of multiple engineering fields should be reached through a careful analysis of the designed system and its optimization. It is common practice that complex multi-physics finite element method (FEM)-based models are created to analyze the system. Nevertheless, without a clear understanding of the occurred phenomena, an optimal design will b