Design and Analysis of Microthermal Accelerometer

A novel design of accelerometer based on differential buoyancy of a heated fluid in a micromachined enclosure has been developed at Simon Fraser University. This project focuses on theoretical and experimental studies aimed at optimizing the design of such an accelerometer. In particular, the consequences of using a liquid as the working fluid are explored. The current single-axis and double-axis accelerometer designs can be modeled as convective laminar flow within the space enclosed by horizontal concentric annuli and concentric spheres respectively. Both steady state and transient solutions to the convective laminar fluid flow are investigated by analytical methods and numerical simulations to predict such performance parameters as: maximum differential temperature, location at which maximum differential temperature occurs, and response time. Experimental studies are then performed to verify the results of theoretical study. Some conclusions for accelerometer design are drawn.