INTRODUCTION: Conventional techniques used to image microdamage in cortical bone require the preparation of many histologic sections which is inherently invasive, destructive, two-dimensional, and tedious [1]. These limitations inhibit evaluation of the effects of microdamage on whole bone strength and prohibit detection of microdamage in vivo. Therefore, micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) ha...

With the vast potential of micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology, the reliability is essential for the successful applications of microdevices. Polycrystalline silicon is one of the most often used structural materials in microdevices. Tension testing for fatigue life of this material has been investigated since past years. This paper presents a micro-actuatorbased bending testing ...

To reduce the radiation hazard for manned missions to Mars and beyond, a high specific impulse-high thrust system is needed, with a nuclear bomb propulsion system the preferred candidate. The propulsion with small fission bombs is excluded because the critical mass requirement leads to extravagant small fission burn up rates. This leaves open the propulsion with non-fission ignited thermonuclea...

The pull-in instability places substantial restrictions on the performance of electrostatically driven MEMS devices by limiting their range of travel. Our objective is to present a systematic method of carrying out optimal design of novel types of electrostatic beams that have enhanced travel ranges. In this paper, we implement a shape optimization methodology using simulated annealing to maxim...

The knife-edge method is a commonly used technique to characterize the optical profiles of laser beams or focused spots. In this paper, we present a micro knife-edge scanner fabricated in a silicon-on-insulator substrate using the micro-electromechanical-system technology. A photo detector can be fabricated in the device to allow further integration with on-chip signal conditioning circuitry. A...

This study is devoted to providing predictions of the pull-in parameters (pull-in voltage and pull-in displacement) of electro-statically actuated micro-beams based on a continuous model using Genetic Algorithm (GA) technique. A phenomenon in which the actuated electrode comes in direct contact with the fixed electrode due to the electrostatic force is called pull-in instability. Accurate deter...

micro-beams Hua Guo, Kevin Wang, Yu Deng, Y. Oh, S. A. Syed Asif, O. L. Warren, Z. W. Shan, J. Wu, and A. M. Minor Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, USA National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, USA National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Center f...

Absfract Despite the enormous research efforts in creating new applications with MEMS, the research efforts at the backend such as packaging and assembly are relatively limited. One reason for this is the level of dimculty involved. One fundamental challenge lies in the fact that at micro-scale, micro mechanical structures are fragile and easy to break they typically will break at the micro-New...

Microcantilevers are the basic MEMS devices, which can be used as sensors, actuators and electronics can be easily built into them. The detection principle of microcantilever sensors is based on the measurement of change in cantilever deflection or change in its resonance frequency. The objective of this work is to explore the analogies between mechanical and electrical equivalent of microcanti...

The objective of this paper is to control the phase shifting by applying a bias DC voltage and changing the mechanical characteristics in electrostatically-actuated micro-beams. This problem can be more useful in the design of micro-phase shifters, which has not generally been investigated their mechanical behavior. By presenting a mathematical modeling, Galerkin-based step by step linearizatio...