• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.615-618
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• 2005

All over the world, many kinds of micro-actuators were already developed for various applications. The actuators are using various principles such as electromagnetic, piezoelectric and thermopneumatic etc. The most of the micro-actuators have been made using 2D based MEMS technology. In these actuators, it is difficult to drive 3-dimensional motion. This characteristic gives the limit of actuator application. However, micro-stereolithography technology has made it possible to fabricate freeform three-dimensional microstructures. In this technology, 2-dimensional micro-shape layer is cumulated on the other layers. This layer-by-layer process is the main principle to fabricate 3-dimensioal micro-structures. In this research, a micro-bellows actuator that is vertically moving was developed using the micro-stereolithography technology. When pressure was applied into the bellows, a non-contact actuating motion is generated. For actuation experiment, syringe pump and laser interferometer were used for applying pressure and measuring the displacement. Several hundreds micro-scale actuation was observed. And, to demonstrate the feasibility of proposed actuation principle, in this research, a micro-gripper was developed using half-bellows structure.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.229.1-229.1
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• 2005

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.99-104
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• 2004

Micro/meso cutting is getting more important in the fields of precision machining technology. A micro-turning lathe is one of parts to consist the Micro Factory. It accepts stepwise motion actuators that are used for feeding system instead of the conventional mechanism. It is consisted of two Piezoelectric ceramics; one is for feeding the slider, and the other is for clamping the slider in the guide way of the body. The linearity and positional accuracy of the actuators are good enough for high precision motion. The spindle unit is operated with DC motor on the top of the slider. The motion is communicated with miniaturized linear encoder attached on each side of axis. A mono crystal diamond tool is used for cutting tool. This micro-lathe has been made a machining experiment to see the characteristics of micro-machining.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2002.10a
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• pp.1025-1028
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• 2002

In this paper, a micro-turning lathe is introduced for micro machining of aluminum rod. To give feed motion, stepwise motion[2] actuators are used instead of the conventional inchworm mechanism. These are consisted of two Piezoelectric ceramics; one is for feeding the slider, and the other is for clamping the slider in the guide way of the body. The guide is V-form. The linearity and positional accuracy of the actuators is good enough far high precision motion. Since the system is more compact than the conventional system using three Piezoelectric ceramics, it is applicable for the micro-machine or MEMS unit. To fabricate the lathe, a small spindle unit with ball bearings of diameter of 10 millimeter is built-up on the top the slider. The motion is feed backed with miniaturized linear encoder attached each axis slider. The diamond tool bite is used for cutting tool. The machining is tried to make small diameter rod. The possible diameter that can be machined in this machine is presented as well as chip formation, surface roughness, and machinability.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
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• 1999.07g
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• pp.3331-3333
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• 1999

A novel antistiction method using photo resist is proposed and verified to improve the yield of polysilicon micromachining process. $7.5{\mu}m-thick$ polysilicon is used as a structural layer. Residual stress and stress gradient originated from polysilicon deposition with LPCVD process is relaxed by doping and thermal treatment. The stress gradient of stress-free polysilicon layer is $-0.755MPa/{\mu}m$.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.709-712
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• 2003

The existing technical limitation makes engineer imitate nature to solve engineering problems. Recently Micro Air Vehicle(MAV) imitating the mechanism of birds or insects is being developed. Especially Ultra Flite supported by DARPA is studying hummingbird aerodynamics to relate that information to MAV. To drive MAV bender piezoelectric(PZT) actuators are used due to the convinience of control and the small size. But the displacement of the PZT actuators are very small, and the wing driving mechanism which amplifies the stroke generated by the PZT actuators has constraints in design and manufacture because of the small dimension. In this paper a wing design concept and a efficient driving mechanism are proposed. Electroactive polymers(EAPs) are used as wing mechanism actuators. Using OpenGL the mechanisms are simulated graphically. Also a prototype actuator is being developed and verified by digital Mockup with CATIA. Basic kinematics of the mechanism is studied.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.26 no.10
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• pp.1394-1405
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• 2002

The performance of micro-actuators utilizing radiometric forces are studied numerically. The Knudsen number based on gas density and characteristic dimension is varied from near-continuum to highly rarefied conditions. Direct simulation Monte Carlo(DSMC) calculations have been performed to estimate the performance of the micro-actuators. In the present DSMC method, the variable hard sphere molecular model and no time counter technique are used to simulate the molecular collision kinetics. For simulation of diatomic gas flows, the Borgnakke-Larsen phenomenological model is adopted to redistribute the translational and internal energies.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Machine Tool Engineers
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.36-41
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• 2009

This paper presents the development of a micro punching system with modified cymbal mechanism. To realize the micro punching, we introduced the hybrid system with a macro moving part and micro punching part. The macro moving part consists of a ball screw, a linear guide and the micro step motor and micro punching part includes the PZT actuators and displacement amplification device with modified cymbal mechanism. The PZT actuator is capable of producing very large force, but they provide only limited displacements which are several micro meters. Thus the displacement amplification device is necessary to make those actuators more efficient and useful. For this purpose, a cymbal mechanism in series is proposed. The finite element method was used to design the cymbal mechanism and to analyze the mode shape of the one. The displacement and mode shape error between the FEM results and experiments are within 10%. A considerable design effort has been focused on optimizing the flexure hinge to increase the output displacement and punching force.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.39-44
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• 2006

Ultra precision positioning mechanism has been widely used on semiconductor manufacturing equipments, optical spectrum analyzers and cell manipulations. Ultra precision positioning mechanism consists of several actuators, sensors, guides and control systems. Its efficiency depends on each performance of components. The object of this study is to design and analyze the micro stage that is one of the equipments embodied in ultra precision positioning mechanism. The micro stage consists of PZT actuators and flexure hinges. The structural design of flexure hinge is optimized by using RSM and FEM. The control factors concerned with the design of flexure hinges of stage and arms are optimized by minimizing the equivalent stress on the hinge and maximizing 1st natural frequency based on RSM and FEM simulation under various kinds of design conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.848-853
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• 2001

Electrostatic actuation was adopted for ease of fabrication. We proposed a new driving scheme that uses the vector sum of force generated by comb-finger and by parallel plate. The moving and fixed electrodes are arranged to maximize the driving force. In this paper, an electrostatic field analysis is performed by Maxwell analysis tool for micro actuators. From the analysis, a comb-parallel type micro-actuator with 4${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ width, 6${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ overlap and 45${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ height could be designed. In order to compare the new type of actuator with the conventional comb type of actuator, we arranged that both types have the same area and the same number of actuators. To make a high aspect ratio structure, we are developing fabrication process using SU-8 and electro-plating.