Modeling for effective computer support to MEMS product development

Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) are miniaturized devices with high functionality. In recent years, MEMS products have become increasingly dominant in every aspect of the commercial market place. As the MEMS technology is in its infant stage and has several unique features compared to macro-scale products, it is faced with several challenges. One of them is that design and fabrication knowledge is very intrigue and thus very difficult to be accessible. An effective computer support to the MEMS product development is thus very important. This thesis study undertakes a thorough investigation into the MEMS product development process and its computer support. Specifically, the study examines the state-of-the-art in computer aided design systems in light of the support of product functionality. It is shown that MEMS product development involves high degree of uncertainty, which calls for an unconventional computer support. At this point, this study proposes an approach to construct a knowledge base in a fairly flexible and real-time manner. This approach is based on the extended function-behavior-structure framework and the template technique proposed in this thesis. The other finding is that the MEMS product development resembles the one-of-a-kind product (OKP) development. Therefore software tools for the OKP product development process can be applied to the MEMS product development process. These tools are examined, and further extensions upon them are proposed. Throughout the thesis, a microdispensing system is used as an example for illustration of concepts described in this thesis

Starting from Scratch: Creating an Information Technology Infrastructure for MEMS-Related Research and Development

Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) have already revolutionized several industries through miniaturization and cost effective manufacturing capabilities that were never possible before. However, commercially available MEMS products have only scratched the surface of the application areas where MEMS has potential. The complex and highly technical nature of MEMS research and development (R&D) combined with the lack of standards in areas such as design, fabrication and test methodologies, makes creating and supporting a MEMS R&D program a financial and technological challenge. A proper information technology (IT) infrastructure is the backbone of such research and is critical to its success. While the lack of standards and the general complexity in MEMS R&D makes it impossible to provide a “one size fits all” design, a systematic approach, combined with a good understanding of the MEMS R&D environment and the relevant computer-aided design tools, provides a way for the IT architect to develop an appropriate infrastructure

A three-semester interdisciplinary educational program in microsystems engineering

Journal ArticleMotivated by an NSF IGERT grant in the general area of microfluidics, a sequence of three interdisciplinary technical courses has been developed in the emerging area of microsystems engineering. Designed to be taken in series, these courses take students, both graduate and upper-level undergraduates from multiple disciplines, who have virtually no knowledge of the microscale and nanoscale engineering and science field, and provide them with the ability to design and fabricate complete microscale and nanoscale systems

Product-process interface for effective product design and manufacturing in a DFM approach

This research work is partly supported by SNECMA enterprise. It makes part of the MAIA 8 projectInternational audienceIn order to tackle a continuous improvement of virtual engineering, product modelling has to integrate always more knowledge that refer to every decision taken during the product development process. Those decisions have to be related to the assessment of the whole product lifecycle. This paper particularly addresses the domain of product's industrialisation that aims at selecting the manufacturing processes. This selection must currently be done as soon as possible and has to be strongly linked with product definition and CAD1 modelling. This paper presents first some new results concerning a product-process interface to integrate manufacturing information in the product model and how it leads the definition of the CAD model. Secondly this interface, that also manages specific information coming from the manufacturing process (tolerances, stresses gradient...), is used to improve the whole manufacturing process plan simulation. This process plan has, indeed, to track every material transformation issued from each manufacturing operation

Analysis of the Integration of DFM Techniques and Effective Machining Parameter Selection in Metal Parts Manufacturing

This dissertation investigates the minimization of part design with self-locating features. The research focuses primarily on self-fastening characteristics, standardization of parts, and minimal use of fasteners. Further, the present research studies the design for base parts in the construction of a moving joint system, in order to locate potential part and system design improvements. This process may then be extended to industrial applications in the manufacturing industry. Relatively little work to date has examined the significance of Design for Manufacturing Techniques (DFMT), with their inherent machine element systems and machining parameters to investigate which DFMT has the most influence on cost reduction and increasing throughput, and under which circumstances. As such, this dissertation analyzes the inter-operational and synergistic elements of the DFMT, machine element systems, and machining parameters. The parametric specifications for the DFMT are examined and integrated with the cost and productivity-related information. In sum, this research applies DFMT to product design. The trade-off between cost of manufacturing and productivity in terms of DFM alternatives was subject to preliminary model development and sensitivity analysis. For each DFMT and associated machine element systems and Machining parameters, process planning was used effectively with computer-aided tools to enhance the evaluation impact of the dialogue between the design and manufacturing functions. Expert systems and systematic algorithms are inherently incorporated into the software tools used herein. Generative process planning software is used to measure and analyze sensitivity in plan effectiveness, particularly where material property attributes are changed. The shift that occurs according to process plan attributes is explored. These attributes are presented by manufacturing cost and production rate with respect to variations in specific material properties. The research analyzes four DFMT: Modifying the selection of raw material Modifying quality Modifying geometry Modifying the selection of process/es In terms of organizing and evaluating the work, a systematic algorithm was developed, discussed, and tested in this dissertation. This algorithm has sequenced elements to investigate and analyze each DFMT. This analysis identifies several potential process plans, from which the plan with the lowest projected cost and highest production rate is selected and constructed. The developed process plans illustrate the importance of alternative DFMT, without impacting product functionality. Each process plan attempts to decrease production cost, maintain quality, and increase throughput. The results of these plans show their respective effectiveness in relation to part utilization, process, and system-level parameters (such as surface finish, tolerance, heat treated condition of the material, geometry, material hardness, melting point, production quantity, cutting tools, cutting fluids, cutting conditions, and machine tools). The criteria for effectiveness include machining cost, tool cost, and throughput. From this data, the current study determines the most appropriate DFMT and examines underlying alternate machine element systems and machining parameters for each process plan. The effects of DFMT and inherent use of varying machine element systems and machining parameters on cost and productivity-based objectives are also examined. This enables exploration of the selected DFMT choice, according to effective cost reduction and production rate improvement for varying product design. The modified process plan is then compared to the original process plan to highlight areas of improvement. In this comparison, the results of DFMT analysis show significant influence on cost reduction and production rates. These findings suggest that further beneficial outcomes and variety might be obtained by applying this algorithm

Modelling information flow for organisations delivering microsystems technology

Motivated by recent growth and applications of microsystems technology (MST), companies within the MST domain are beginning to explore avenues for understanding, maintaining and improving information flow, within their organisations and to/from customers, with a view to enhancing delivery performance. Delivery for organisations is the flow of goods from sellers to buyers and a classic approach to understanding information flow is via the use of modelling techniques. Cont/d