Study on applicability of adhesive forces for micro-material handling in production technology
Date
2011-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, Department of Industrial Engineering
Abstract
Micro-material handling and micro-assembly becomes increasingly important in largevolume
manufacturing of products like sensors in automotive applications. Smaller
dimensions of the micro-objects lead to problems with regard to the reliability of the
manufacturing process because adhesive forces become predominant over gravity for
objects whose dimensions are in the micro-range. In contrast to the common approach of
minimizing those adhesive forces, this paper focuses on the use of the three main adhesive
forces, van-der-Waals, electrostatic and surface tension forces, as gripping principles.
These forces are compared to conventional vacuum grippers with regard to gripping forces
and complexity of application. Modelling of the forces is executed for separation distances
in the range of 1x10-12 m - 1x10-3 m. Even though vacuum forces dominate in magnitude
over others within the whole range, there are several disadvantages of using them. On the
other hand adhesive forces are advantageous in that they require little amount of energy
and they do not mechanically strain the micro-parts being handled.
Description
The original publication is available at http://www.isem.org.za/index.php/isem/isem2011
Conference of the ISEM 2011 Proceedings, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 21 - 23 September 2011.
Conference theme - Innovative Systems Thinking: Unravelling Complexity for Successful Solutions.
Conference of the ISEM 2011 Proceedings, Stellenbosch, South Africa, 21 - 23 September 2011.
Conference theme - Innovative Systems Thinking: Unravelling Complexity for Successful Solutions.
Keywords
Micro-material handling, Micro-assembly, Vacuum forces
Citation
Neugebauer, R. et al. 2011. Study on applicability of adhesive forces for micro-material handling in production technology. Presented at the ISEM 2011 Proceedings, September 21-23, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa.