A reproducing kernel particle method for meshless analysis of microelectromechanical systems

Many existing computer-aided design systems for microelectromechanical syst ems require the generation of a three-dimensional mesh for computational an alysis of the microdevice. Mesh generation requirements for microdevices ar e very complicated because of the presence of mixed-energy domains. Point m ethods or meshless methods do not require the generation of a mesh, and com putational analysis can be performed by sprinkling points covering the doma in of the microdevice. A corrected smooth particle hydrodynamics approach a lso referred to as the reproducing kernel particle method is developed here for microelectromechanical applications. A correction function that establ ishes the consistency and the stability of the meshless method is derived. a simple approach combining the constraint elimination and the Lagrange mul tiplier technique is developed for imposition of boundary conditions. Numer ical results are shown for static and dynamic analysis of microswitches and electromechanical pressure sensors. The accuracy of the meshless method is established by comparing the numerical results obtained with meshless meth ods with previously reported experimental and numerical data.