Fluid structure interaction analysis and simulation of micromachined cantilever-based flow sensor

Abstract

Numerical analysis and analog simulation are used to investigate the FSI (fluid structure interaction) characteristics of a differential pressure flow sensor. The FSI model is created using the hydromechanics and elastic mechanics, and a systematic theory is created to finish the numerical analysis. Then the working mechanism of the flow sensor is analyzed depend on the FSI results. The commercial software FLUENT and ANSYS are used to finish the analog simulation. The result of numerical analysis is similar to that of analog simulation. Depend on the results of numerical analysis and analog simulation, the shape and size of the flow sensor are optimized. The optimized flow sensor is fabricated and calibrated. The calibration results show that the cantilever based differential pressure flow sensor achieves ideal static characteristics and works well in the practical applications.