DESIGN AND FABRICATION OF RESONANT GAS SENSOR FOR HIGH SENSITIVITY IN THE PRESENCE OF AIR DAMPING

Gas sensors have been used widely in different important area including industrial control, environmental monitoring, counter-terrorism and chemical production. Micro-fabrication offers a promising way to achieve sensitive and inexpensive gas sensors. Over the years, various MEMS gas sensors have been investigated and fabricated. One significant type of MEMS gas sensors is based on mass change detection and the integration with specific polymer. This dissertation aims to make contributions to the design and fabrication of MEMS resonant mass sensors with capacitance actuation and sensing that lead to improved sensitivity. To accomplish this goal, the research has several objectives: (1) Define an effective measure for evaluating the sensitivity of resonant mass devices; (2) Model the effects of air damping on microcantilevers and validate models using laser measurement system (3) Develop design guidelines for improving sensitivity in the presence of air damping; (4) Characterize the degree of uncertainty in performance arising from fabrication variation for one or more process sequences, and establish design guidelines for improved robustness. Work has been completed toward these objectives. An evaluation measure has been developed and compared to an RMS based measure. Analytic models of air damping for parallel plate that include holes are compared with a COMSOL model. The models have been used to identify cantilever design parameters that maximize sensitivity. Additional designs have been modeled with COMSOL and the development of an analytical model for Fixed-free cantilever geometries with holes has been developed. Two process flows have been implemented and compared. A number of cantilever designs have been fabricated and the uncertainty in process has been investigated. Variability from processing have been evaluated and characterized.

Transformer modeling ATP : internal faults & high-frequency discretization

Power transformers are key components of the power grid and are also one of the most subjected to a variety of power system transients. The failure of a large transformer can cause severe monetary losses to a utility, thus adequate protection schemes are of great importance to avoid transformer damage and maximize the continuity of service. Computer modeling can be used as an efficient tool to improve the reliability of a transformer protective relay application. Unfortunately, transformer models presently available in commercial software lack completeness in the representation of several aspects such as internal winding faults, which is a common cause of transformer failure. It is also important to adequately represent the transformer at frequencies higher than the power frequency for a more accurate simulation of switching transients since these are a well known cause for the unwanted tripping of protective relays. This work develops new capabilities for the Hybrid Transformer Model (XFMR) implemented in ATPDraw to allow the representation of internal winding faults and slow-front transients up to 10 kHz. The new model can be developed using any of two sources of information: 1) test report data and 2) design data. When only test-report data is available, a higher-order leakage inductance matrix is created from standard measurements. If design information is available, a Finite Element Model is created to calculate the leakage parameters for the higher-order model. An analytical model is also implemented as an alternative to FEM modeling. Measurements on 15-kVA 240?/208Y V and 500-kVA 11430Y/235Y V distribution transformers were performed to validate the model. A transformer model that is valid for simulations for frequencies above the power frequency was developed after continuing the division of windings into multiple sections and including a higher-order capacitance matrix. Frequency-scan laboratory measurements were used to benchmark the simulations. Finally, a stability analysis of the higher-order model was made by analyzing the trapezoidal rule for numerical integration as used in ATP. Numerical damping was also added to suppress oscillations locally when discontinuities occurred in the solution. A maximum error magnitude of 7.84% was encountered in the simulated currents for different turn-to-ground and turn-to-turn faults. The FEM approach provided the most accurate means to determine the leakage parameters for the ATP model. The higher-order model was found to reproduce the short-circuit impedance acceptably up to about 10 kHz and the behavior at the first anti-resonant frequency was better matched with the measurements.