Mechanical nonlinearities (Geometric or Contact) in inertial MEMS sensors

Mechanical nonlinearities play an important role in inertial MEMS sensors and cannot be avoided. The trend to push the performance to the limits caused second-order nonlinear effects to become a critical phenomenon that must be considered: these effects are already visible and characterized on mass production devices.

External shocks and vibrations could also induce other type of non-linearities coming from dynamics of contact, adhesion and chipping. FEA software can be used to solve nonlinear dynamics, but a simplified modelling is more convenient when complex structures and simulations are performed.

The proposed work will start from experimental results and advanced measurements MEMS gyroscopes/accelerometers developed in TDK InvenSense, with the final target to define a reduced order model that can describe the observed nonlinear dynamics of these sensors.