We report a simple technique to measure the free vibration of microlitre-sized droplets using an array of thirteen MEMS-based piezoresistive cantilevers and demonstrate its application for the measurement of viscosity. Because the damping of the free vibration of a liquid droplet is known to be affected by the viscosity of the liquid, measuring the vibration of a droplet allows the viscosity to be estimated from a dilute sample volume. However, conventional methods to measure the droplet vibration require sophisticated apparatuses, which hinder the development of a portable viscometer. Here, we show that MEMS-based piezoresistive cantilevers can be an excellent tool to measure the vibration of a sessile droplet due to the high sensitivity and simplicity of the readout scheme. Using the cantilever array, we analyse the normal force distribution on the contact area of a sessile droplet in the static state and during the vibration. Next, we show that the viscosity (from ~1-30 mPa s) can be estimated within an error of less than 10% from the attenuation rate of the cantilever output during the tapping-induced vibration of small droplets (~2.4 μL). In addition to the advantage of the small sample volume, the proposed viscometer has simple operation and readout schemes, which are desirable for many applications, including point-of-care testing and drug development.
The most common structure for a conventional barometric pressure sensor consists of a vacuum-sealed cavity and a diaphragm. However, we hypothesize that a simple structure with an unsealed cavity and an ultra-thin cantilever can provide more sensitive measurements. We produced a 300-nm-thick cantilever with a small spring constant, which made the cantilever sensitive to low pressures. We demonstrated that miniaturizing the air-gap of the cantilever enables the sensor to measure barometric pressure changes at a low pressure change rate with a high resolution, which was 1 Pa at 0.05 Hz, and for a gap size of 1.7 μm.
Abstract:In recent years, with the continuing progress of aging social infrastructures such as bridges and tunnels, there has been high demand for the assessment of deterioration of their performance and conditions. Since current inspection methods for those structures have mainly relied on human resources, it is important to reduce their increasing maintenance cost. One of the key methods for achieving effective maintenance without expensive human costs is to use sensors to discriminate between healthy and unhealthy conditions. In this paper, a MEMS (micro electro mechanical systems) wideband frequency sensor, which is referred to as a super acoustic (SA) sensor, is evaluated through the pencil lead break (PLB) test. Due to its wideband frequency characteristics, the SA sensor is expected to be a promising alternative to the existing vibration sensors, including acoustic emission (AE) sensors. Several PLB signals were generated on an aluminum plate (5 mm thick), and propagating Lamb waves were detected by both AE and SA sensors. SA sensors were able to identify the location of PLB sources on the plate by measuring time differences between each sensor. By comparing the wave spectrums of both the AE and SA sensors analyzed by wavelet transform, the applicability of SA sensor for AE measurement is verified.
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