STUDY OF DYNAMIC RESPONSE OF SILICONE ELASTOMER MICROFABRICATED HYBRID MEMBRANES VERSUS TEMPERATURES AND AGING TIME

This study concerns the dynamic behaviour of microfabricated Room-Temperature-Vulcanizing (RTV) silicone elastomers based Hybrid Membranes (HMs) when subjected to different operating temperatures and after aging. The micro fabricated HMs structures aimed at being implemented in micromachines, such as for instance a micro-Stirling engine. The hybrid membranes consist of a silicon spiral structure embedded with a thin layer of an elastomeric RTV-silicone. The different process temperatures are consistent with clean room process, such as anodic bonding. In addition to an experimental study, Finite Element Model (FEM) numerical simulations are presented. The simulations include the location of the stress concentration points during a solicitation and membrane dynamic frequency, which are consistent with the experimental test results.