Reliability-based design optimization of electrothermal microactuators using Hybrid Reliability Approach

This paper focuses on the design optimization of the applications of electrothermal polysilicon microactuators with the considerations of uncertainties from mathematical models and random variables. The deflections and actuation forces in the micro-cantilevers are modeled based on experiment results; furthermore, the non-negligible errors due to extrapolations are estimated numerically. The response models are utilized to formulate Reliability-Based Design Optimization problems. The Hybrid Reliability Approach is utilized to accurately and efficiently solve the probabilistic problems by adaptively selecting the reliability analyses from the accurate Modified Reliability Index Approach and the efficient Performance Measure Approach. Lastly, three different micro-actuators are designed and optimized with various levels of bound conditions.