Author(s)

R.L. Mullen & S.K. Hsu

Abstract

Boundary element methods in coupled electromechanical systems R.L. Mullen, S.K. Hsu Department of Civil Engineering, Case Western University, Cleveland, Ohio 44^06, USA ABSTRACT Advances in micromachining technology have lead to the development of microactuators with typical dimensions in the range of micrometers. These actuators are manufactured using integrated circuit technology and can be accurately produced in large quantities. In order to optimize the design of microactuators, modeling techniques that are appropriate for these devices are needed. In this paper, boundary element methods for the analysis of microactuators are addressed. For electrostatically driven actuators, a coupled non-linear elastic-electrostatic boundary element formulation is presented. In this application, the electrostatic and elastic domains are disjoint. Coupling between the elastic and electrostatic solutions occur only at domain boundaries making boundary element methods

Keywords