Vibration Analysis of U-Shaped Beam Electrothermal Microactuators
This paper presents an analytical model for the vibration analysis of a U-shaped electrothermal microactuators. A U-shaped electrothermal microactuator has a unique geometrical structure which consist of, interconnected multiple thick and thin beam segments. In this proposed model, both the longitudinal and lateral deflections of each beam segment are incorporated. To facilitate the modelling process, a thick beam is replaced by the thin beam segment using the artificial Young's modulus and density so that the deformation and inertia force of the thin beam can be used to equivalently describe that of the thick beam segment. The relationship of the force and deflections in both longitudinal and lateral directions at connected points between adjacent beam segments is formulated with continuity conditions. The frequency equation is then established subjected to two both boundary and continuity conditions. Solving the frequency equation yields the natural frequencies of the U-shaped beam actuator. The analytical results are compared with the finiteelement simulation results using ANSYS software. A good agreement is observed between analytical and simulation data, and hence the proposed vibration analysis model is verified. This model provides the first insight study on the vibration analysis of U-shaped electrothermal actuators, which is essentially crucial to dynamic system modelling, control, and dimension optimizations.
Micromechanical Devices With Embedded Electro-Thermal-Compliant Actuation

 At micro scale, thermal actuation provides larger forces and is easier to control compared to the widely used electrostatic actuation. In this paper, we highlight a third advantage of thermal actuation viz. the ease with which it can be utilized to achieve a novel embedded electro-thermal-compliant (ETC) actuation for MEMS. A number of novel ETC building blocks and devices are described and their analysis and design issues are discussed. The devices were microfabricated using MCNC’s MUMPs foundry process as well as a bulk-micromachining process called PennSOIL (Penn Silicon-On-Insulator Layer). Experimental measurements are presented and reasons for discrepancies with the theoretical predictions are discussed.
Simulating the Illuminance and Efficiency of the LEDs Used in General Household Lighting
Abstract The advantage of the LEDs illumination in general household lighting was proposed. High efficiency white LED as the light source was provided the energy saving illumination of the general household lightings. Different spaces in general household with different standards of average illuminance were designed and simulated by LightTools and DIALux software. The power consumptions and efficiency of traditional illuminated light sources and LED light source in lighting the household environment were analyzed and compared with each other at the same standard of average illuminance. Finally, it provided the advantage of using white LEDs in different spaces of the general household lighting.