Transient energy-release pressure-driven microdevices

A class of transient pressure-driven micromechanical devices that have several advantages over conventional microelectromechanical actuators is described. Although most micromechanical systems developed to date have been involved with electromagnetic or electrostatic forces, in the future micromechanical systems will also involve fluid mechanics, gas dynamics, and thermodynamics at unusually small scales. Generally, the size scaling laws for fluid flows and heat transfer are well understood; however, at the scale of micromachines (say 1-100 μm), the details of transient behavior become a dominant consideration. The basic principles of transient pressure-driven actuators and some of the factors that must be considered in such designs are discussed