Contrastive Study on the mechanical performance of MEMS microsprings fabricated by LIGA and UV-LIGA technology

With good mechanical performance and mature fabrication technology of LIGA and UV-LIGA, Ni is chosen as the material of S style MEMS microspring. At 24 degrees C and 25% relative humidity, five different points in LIGA Ni sample were tested with the MICRO HARDNESS TESTER, and the Young's modulus was 219GPa. From the tensile tests of UV-LIGA Ni sample the Young's modulus of UV-LIGA Ni is 180GPa. The S style microspring was fabricated by LIGA and UV-LIGA technology separately. Applying the Castigliano second theorem of energy method in macro theory, the spring constant formulas of S style microspring in three application modes were deduced, and the correctness was verified by the FEA (Finite Element Analysis) simulation. The experiments of S style microspring's deformation properties were carried out by the Tytron250 micro force test machine and a tensile measurement system separately. The experimental results agree with the theoretical analysis. Based on the above analysis, the change laws of microspring's spring coefficient in different application patters are summarized.