On the modeling of a piezoellectrically actuated micro-sensor for measurement of microscale fluid physical properties

Abstract

This paper deals with the analysis of a novel micro-electromechanical sensor for measurement of microscale fluid physical properties. The proposed sensor is made up of a micro-beam with one end fixed and a micro-plate as a sensing element at its free end, which is immersed in a microscale fluid media. As fluids show different behavior in microscale than in macroscale, the microscale fluid media have been modeled based on micro-polar theory. So non-classical properties of fluid that are absent in macroscale flows need to be measured. In order to actuate the sensor longitudinally, an AC voltage is applied to the piezoelectric layers on the upper and lower surfaces of the micro-beam. Coupled governing partial differential equations of motion of the fluid field and longitudinal vibration of the micro-beam have been derived based on micro-polar theory. The obtained governing differential equations with time-varying boundary conditions have been simplified and transformed to an enhanced form with homogenous boundary conditions. Then, they have been discretized over the beam and fluid domain using Galerkin-based reduced-order model. The dynamic response of the sensing element for different piezoelectric actuation voltages and different exciting frequencies has been studied. It has been shown that by investigating damping and inertial effect fluid loading on response of the micro-beam, properties of a microscale fluid can be measured. At the end, effects of geometrical parameters of the sensor on the response of sensing element have been studied.