Numerical tools for fracture of MEMS devices

Abstract

Numerical tools to model fracture in MEMS devices are proposed. The two procedures are the Element Free method and the Displacement Discontinuity Method. Experiments on MEMS fracture are used to evaluate the numerical procedures. The test specimens covered a range of geometries and designs, including notches, holes and corners. For some specimens both methods gave acceptable results compared to experiments (Ballarini et al. and Suwito), while for others results were off by more than 15%. These findings raise new questions about the applicability of linear elastic fracture mechanics to model failure of MEMS devices at the microscopic scale.