Fig. 2. Comparison of experimental measurements of diaphragm deflection to analytical and finite-element predictions.
A: In the pressure range of interest, diaphragm deflection increases nearly linearly with applied pressure, in close agreement with the analytical simulations. Data are derived from measurements with a 10-μm-thick diaphragm and a 50-μm-wide actuator (black line). The variation in deflection could be attributed to variation in diaphragm thickness or material properties in the manufacturing process. B: Stress contour showing stress alleviation and stress concentration at PDMS-PDMS and PDMS-glass junctions respectively. Scale bar 20 μm. C: Experimental measurements of diaphragm deflection versus thickness for 100 kPa of applied pressure. Black solid line shows the analytical prediction. D: The shape of the deflected actuator in an experiment (left) matches the shape predicted by the finite element simulation (right).