A MEMS PPA Based Active Vibration Isolator - STUDENT AWARD 3RD PLACE $500

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 000853-000880
Author(s):  
Chong Li ◽  
C. Lavinia Elana ◽  
Robert N. Dean ◽  
George T. Flowers

Several types of micro-devices are adversely affected by high frequency mechanical vibrations present in the operating environment. Examples include MEMS vibratory gyroscopes and resonators, and micro-optics. Various types of MEMS vibration isolators have been developed for use in the packaging of these vibration sensitive devices. Passive isolators consist of a spring-mass-damper MEMS device and usually have a very high mechanical quality factor, which makes them susceptible to ringing at the isolator's resonant frequency. Active isolators have been realized by using state sensing of the proof mass motion and feeding one or more of these states back through an actuator to adjust the frequency response of the isolator. For example, the technique known as skyhook damping uses velocity feedback to adjust, and typically increase, the damping of the isolator. Although these technique are doable, they require state sensing or state estimation, with feedback electronics to drive the actuator. A simpler MEMS active vibration isolator architecture employs only a parallel plate actuator (PPA) with the MEMS spring-mass-damper structure. The PPA driven with a DC voltage, in its stable operating range, displaces the proof mass, which results in a change in the effective system spring constant due to the electrostatic spring softening effect. This results in a change in the resonant frequency and the quality factor of the isolator. However, due to the nonlinearities inherent in this type of device, the stable operating range is reduced as the PPA voltage is increased. Furthermore, even when the isolator is stable in steady-state, a sufficiently large transient response can also drive it into the unstable regime, resulting in the electrodes snapping into contact. In this study, the PPA based active vibrator isolator is developed and its performance is evaluated. The characteristics of the transient instability are investigated and its stable range of operation is specified, for booth external disturbances and rapid application of the control voltage. This MEMS PPA based active vibration isolator can improve performance compared to passive isolators, while being much simpler than state feedback active isolators.

Author(s):  
I. P. M. Wickramasinghe ◽  
Jordan M. Berg

The stable operating region of an electrostatic comb drive actuator in constant-gap mode is limited by a subcritical pitch-fork bifurcation known as side pull-in. We show that oscillatory open-loop control can forestall side pull-in and substantially extend the stable operating region. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of control of side pull-in without additional lateral actuators. To our knowledge it is also the first application of open-loop oscillatory control to an electrostatic MEMS model using a single control voltage. Simulations show the stable range of travel increased by over 60%, with an associated oscillation of less than 2%. Although feedback control has been used to stabilize a related bifurcation in electrostatic gap-closing actuators, we show that these approaches are unlikely to succeed for side pull-in. Finally, we present and validate formulas relating parameters of the oscillatory input to the average value and oscillations of the resulting displacement.


2009 ◽  
Vol 15 (7) ◽  
pp. 1017-1026
Author(s):  
Nan-Chyuan Tsai ◽  
Chung-Yang Sue ◽  
Bing-Hong Liou

2017 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Galloway ◽  
Stephen Spence ◽  
Sung In Kim ◽  
Daniel Rusch ◽  
Klemens Vogel ◽  
...  

The stable operating range of a centrifugal compressor stage of an engine turbocharger is limited at low mass flow rates by aerodynamic instabilities which can lead to the onset of rotating stall or surge. There have been many techniques employed to increase the stable operating range of centrifugal compressor stages. The literature demonstrates that there are various possibilities for adding special treatments to the nominal diffuser vane geometry, or including injection or bleed flows to modify the diffuser flow field in order to influence diffuser stability. One such treatment is the porous throat diffuser (PTD). Although the benefits of this technique have been proven in the existing literature, a comprehensive understanding of how this technique operates is not yet available. This paper uses experimental measurements from a high pressure ratio (PR) compressor stage to acquire a sound understanding of the flow features within the vaned diffuser which affect the stability of the overall compression system and investigate the stabilizing mechanism of the porous throat diffuser. The nonuniform circumferential pressure imposed by the asymmetric volute is experimentally and numerically examined to understand if this provides a preferential location for stall inception in the diffuser. The following hypothesis is confirmed: linking of the diffuser throats via the side cavity equalizes the diffuser throat pressure, thus creating a more homogeneous circumferential pressure distribution, which delays stall inception to lower flow rates. The results of the porous throat diffuser configuration are compared to a standard vaned diffuser compressor stage in terms of overall compressor performance parameters, circumferential pressure nonuniformity at various locations through the compressor stage and diffuser subcomponent analysis. The diffuser inlet region was found to be the element most influenced by the porous throat diffuser, and the stability limit is mainly governed by this element.


Author(s):  
Hanzhi Zhang ◽  
Dazhong Lao ◽  
Longyu Wei ◽  
Ce Yang ◽  
Mingxu Qi

The work presented here investigates the characteristics of the different impeller backswept angle matchings for a wide stable operating range in an asymmetric double suction centrifugal compressor. The numerical simulation was employed to investigate the influence of different backswept angle matchings on the stable operating range. The aim is to propose a proper change of the backswept angle matching between two impeller sides to improve the impeller power capability and mass flow distribution, furthermore, to delay the operating mode transition and widen the stable operating range of the compressor. Firstly, the method to determine the optimum backswept angle matching obtained by the theory calculation. Then, three matching models were proposed and analyzed in detail. In three matching models, the backswept angle differences between the front and rear impeller side are 0°, 10° and 20°, respectively. The analysis mainly focused on the influence of the different backswept angle matchings on the compressor flow field characteristics and the mass flow distribution characteristics. The results show that the change of the impeller backswept angle matching can improve the mass flow distribution characteristics for two impeller sides and further reduce the stall mass flow rate of the double suction compressor. The model that the backswept angle difference is 10° can delay the operating mode transition and reduce the stall mass flow of the double suction compressor. The model that the backswept angle difference is 20° can also reduce the stall mass flow and finally enable the front impeller into the stall condition. Therefore, the proper change of the backswept angle matching can achieve the purpose of reducing the stall mass flow and widening the operating range for the double suction centrifugal compressor.


Author(s):  
Lei Jing ◽  
Ce Yang ◽  
Wangxia Wu ◽  
Shan Chen

The work presented here investigates the impeller matching characteristics and widens the stable operating range of front and rear impellers for an asymmetric entry double sided centrifugal compressor. A numerical approach is employed to analyze the operating characteristics of front and rear impellers, and a strategy to widen the stable operating range of double sided compressor is presented. Firstly, the performance curves of a double sided centrifugal compressor are obtained by simulating the operation of the whole-stage compressor. The result shows that the compressor operating mode switches from parallel mode to single impeller mode automatically with the decrease of the mass flow. Thus, the stable operating range of the compressor is limited. Second, the simulation of a simplified double sided compressor is conducted to reveal the mechanism of the compressor operating mode conversion. It is found that the essential reason for the conversion of the compressor operating mode is the total pressure difference between the front and rear impeller inlets. A proper increase of the rear impeller radii is helpful for improving the impeller power capability, which enables the front and rear impeller to obtain a superior matching relationship in a wider operating range and widens the stable operating range of the compressor. Furthermore, by analyzing the respective performance characteristic curves in various calculation cases, there is a critical mass flow value between the front and rear impellers for compressors with the same flow capability. When one side impeller mass flow is below the critical value, with further decrease of the flow, the pressure ratio characteristic curve of this side rises and enters the stall zone gradually. Thus, the operating mode is converted from parallel mode to single mode. This result further explains the mechanism for extending the stable operating range of a double sided compressor in a wider scope.


2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 045002 ◽  
Author(s):  
M Olfatnia ◽  
Z Shen ◽  
J M Miao ◽  
L S Ong ◽  
T Xu ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gang Fan ◽  
Kang Chen ◽  
Shaoxiong Zheng ◽  
Yang Du ◽  
Yiping Dai ◽  
...  

Abstract The supercritical carbon dioxide (SCO2) Brayton cycle is one of the most promising power cycles due to its high efficiency, compactness and environmentally friendliness. The centrifugal compressor is a key component of small and medium SCO2 Brayton cycles, and its efficiency has a significant impact on the cycle efficiency. Since the required electric load of power cycles always fluctuates over the year, the SCO2 compressor will operate away from its design point and the narrow stable operating range of a compressor is always a restriction. In this paper, the variable-geometry method, which refers to the combination of a variable inlet-guide-vanes and variable diffuser vanes is proposed for the operating range extension of SCO2 compressors. A set of one-dimensional (1D) loss correlations has been found to accurately predict various losses of the SCO2 compressor components. Based on the 1D thermodynamic model, two programs with internal MATLAB codes coupled with the NIST REFPROP database have been developed for preliminary optimization design and off-design performance predictions of the variable geometry SCO2 compressor. The contributions from the variable-inlet prewhirl and variable diffuser vanes to the shifts of the surge line and choke line are discussed in this paper. The results show the variable-geometry SCO2 compressor has a superior performance at off-design conditions and a wider operating range.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (DPC) ◽  
pp. 001920-001935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Stevens ◽  
Robert Dean ◽  
Chris Wilson

MEMS resonators have many applications, including micromachined gyroscopes, resonating pressure sensors and RF devices. Typically, MEMS resonators consist of a proof mass and suspension system that allows the proof mass motion in one or two directions. Micromachined actuators provide kinetic energy to the proof mass, usually at its resonant frequency. In the simplest resonators, the actuators are driven with an AC signal at or near the resonant frequency. In more complex resonators, the actuator-proof mass system is placed in an amplifier feedback circuit so that the electromechanical system self-resonates. MEMS parallel plate actuators (PPAs) are simple to realize, yet complex nonlinear variable capacitors. If a DC voltage is applied in attempt to move the proof mass greater than 1/3 of the electrode rest gap distance, the device becomes unstable and the electrodes snap into contact. A current limiting resistor is often placed in series with the PPA to limit short circuit current due to a snap-in event. Consider the effect of placing a large resistor, on the order on 10 meg-Ohms, in series with the PPA. Then apply a DC voltage across the resistor-PPA pair of sufficient voltage to cause snap-in. Once the electrostatic force (ES) exceeds the spring force (SF), the electrodes will accelerate toward each other. The capacitance between the electrodes swells as the separation distance shrinks. Since the large resistor limits the charging rate of the capacitor, the voltage across it drops. Once the SF exceeds the EF, the momentum of the movable electrode brings it into contact with the fixed electrode, discharging the capacitor. The movable electrode then accelerates away from the fixed electrode while the resistor slowly allows recharging. After recharging, the cycle repeats resulting in stable oscillation. This resonator requires only a DC power supply, a resistor and a MEMS PPA.


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