Perturbation stochastic finite element analysis of thermoelastic quality factor of micro-resonators

Abstract

In the design of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) such as micro-resonators, one of the major dissipation phenomena to be considered is thermoelastic damping. The performance of such MEMS is directly related to their thermoelastic quality factor which has to be predicted accurately. Moreover, the performance of MEMS depends on manufacturing processes which may cause substantial uncertainty in the geometry and in the material properties of the device. The aim of this paper is to provide a framework to account for uncertainties in the finite element analysis. Particularly, the influence of uncertainties on the performance of a micro-beam is studied using the perturbation stochastic finite element method. The developed method is applied on the analysis of the thermoelastic quality factor of a micro-beam whose elastic modulus is considered as random.