Design and Finite Element Modeling of a Robust MEMS Capacitive Accelerometer for Automotive Airbag Applications
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15282/ijame.22.4.2025.16.0993Keywords:
MEMS, Capacitive accelerometer, Automotive airbag, Finite Element AnalysisAbstract
This study presents a robust single-axis Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) capacitive accelerometer designed for airbag applications. Most of the designs presented in the literature have complicated designs, lower sensitivity, and large device areas. Moreover, most literature studies design accelerometers to measure acceleration up to 10g. In this connection, this research work presents a simple, compact, and lightweight accelerometer capable of operating in a wide range of accelerations from -50g to 50g. Moreover, the present design introduces small holes over the proof mass to reduce weight, and these etch holes facilitate the release of the proof mass during fabrication. To analyze the performance of the proposed design, Finite Element Modeling (FEM) was performed to evaluate the resonant frequency, mode shapes, stress, and deformation under applied acceleration/deceleration, as well as during a car crushing test. Study results found that the proposed accelerometer has a dominant resonant frequency of 8.3 kHz. This result was confirmed through complementary analytical calculations, demonstrating a strong agreement between experimental and theoretical findings. To evaluate the durability and stability of the accelerometer, stress analysis was conducted over the applied range of acceleration values. It was found that the stresses produced within the designed accelerometer are significantly below the material’s yield strength. The maximum ΣVM (Von-Mises stress) and τmax (maximum shear stress) experienced by the proposed accelerometer are approximately 3.05 MPa and 1.64 MPa, respectively. Consequently, the proposed accelerometer demonstrated safe operation within the acceleration envelope of -100g to 100g without incurring mechanical failure. The accelerometer exhibits exceptional sensitivity, achieving a displacement sensitivity of 0.00363 µm/g and a capacitive sensitivity of approximately 0.000339 pF/g. Moreover, the shock test and the effect of environmental conditions, i.e., temperature, are also carried out to understand the designed accelerometer's behavior in real-world applications. It was found that the stresses produced under impact conditions and at elevated temperature were lower than the yield strength of the material, therefore, the designed accelerometer will remain safe.
References
[1] A. R. Chaudhuri, S. Severi, M. A. Erismis, L. A. Francis, and A. Witvrouw, “MEMS accelerometers combining a large bandwidth with a high capacitive sensitivity,” Procedia Engineering, vol. 47, pp. 742-745, 2012.
[2] A. D'Alessandro, S. Scudero, and G. Vitale, “A review of the capacitive MEMS for seismology,” Sensors, vol. 19, p. 3093, 2019.
[3] D. Xiao, Q. Li, Z. Hou, D. Xia, X. Xu, and X. Wu, “A double differential torsional micro-accelerometer based on V-shape beam,” Sensors and Actuators A: Physical, vol. 258, pp. 182-192, 2017.
[4] G. Cosoli, S. Spinsante, and L. Scalise, “Wrist-worn and chest-strap wearable devices: Systematic review on accuracy and metrological characteristics,” Measurement, vol. 159, p. 107789, 2020.
[5] M. Pollind, and R. Soangra, “Development and validation of wearable inertial sensor system for postural sway analysis,” Measurement, vol. 165, p. 108101, 2020.
[6] S. Kavitha, R. Daniel, and K. Sumangala, “A simple analytical design approach based on computer aided analysis of bulk micromachined piezoresistive MEMS accelerometer for concrete SHM applications,” Measurement, vol. 46, pp. 3372-3388, 2013.
[7] S. Kavitha, R. Daniel, and K. Sumangala, “Design and analysis of MEMS comb drive capacitive accelerometer for SHM and seismic applications,” Measurement, vol. 93, pp. 327-339, 2016.
[8] Z. Mohammed, G. Dushaq, A. Chatterjee, and M. Rasras, “An optimization technique for performance improvement of gap-changeable MEMS accelerometers,” Mechatronics, vol. 54, pp. 203-216, 2018.
[9] Z. Mohammed, I. Elfadel, and M. Rasras, “Monolithic multi degree of freedom (MDoF) capacitive MEMS accelerometers,” Micromachines, vol. 9, p. 602, 2018.
[10] M. Benmessaoud, and M. Nasreddine, “Optimization of MEMS capacitive accelerometer,” Microsystem Technologies, vol. 19, 2013, pp. 713-720.
[11] J. Weigold, K. Najafi, and S. Pang, “Design and fabrication of submicrometer single crystal Si accelerometer,” Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, vol. 10, pp. 518-524, 2001.
[12] J. Ramakrishnan, P. Gaurav, N. Chandar, and N. Sudharsan, “Structural design, analysis and DOE of MEMS-based capacitive accelerometer for automotive airbag application,” Microsystem Technologies, vol. 27, pp. 763-777, 2021.
[13] R. A. Koochaksaraie, F. Barazandeh, and H. Barati, “A novel design of capacitive MEMS multi-range accelerometer; FEM and numerical approach,” Physica Scripta, vol. 98, no. 11, p. 115026, 2023.
[14] A. Ivanov and A. Zhilenkov, “The use of IMU MEMS-sensors for designing of motion capture system for control of robotic objects,” IEEE Conference of Russian Young Researchers in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EIConRus), pp. 890-893, Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia, 2018.
[15] J. Pansiot, Z. Zhang, B. Lo, and G. Yang, “WISDOM: wheelchair inertial sensors for displacement and orientation monitoring,” Measurement Science and Technology, vol. 22, p. 105801, 2011.
[16] R. Rodr´ıguez-Mart´ın, C. P´erez-L´opez, A. Sam`a, J. Cabestany, and A. Catal`a, “A wearable inertial measurement unit for long-term monitoring in the dependency care area,” Sensors, vol. 13, pp. 14079-14104, 2013.
[17] S. Scudero, A. D’Alessandro, L. Greco, and G. Vitale, “MEMS technology in seismology: A short review,” IEEE International Conference on Environmental Engineering, pp. 1-5, Milan, Italy, 2018.
[18] P. Ullah, V. Ragot, P. Zwahlen, and F. Rudolf, “A new high-performance sigma-delta MEMS accelerometer for inertial navigation,” DGON Inertial Sensors and Systems Symposium (ISS), pp. 1-13, Karlsruhe, Germany, 2015.
[19] S. Lu, S. Li, M. Habibi, and H. Safarpour, “Improving the thermoelectro-mechanical responses of MEMS resonant accelerometers via a novel multi-layer Perceptron Neural Network,” Measurement, vol. 218, p. 113168, 2023.
[20] Y. Lei, et al. “Development of a high-precision and low cross-axis sensitivity 3-D accelerometer for low-frequency vibration measurement,” IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 23, no. 12, pp. 12634–12643, 2023.
[21] S. Ghasemi, B. Sotoudeh, and M. Pazhooh, “Design and simulation of a novel MEMS-based single proof mass three-axis piezo-capacitive accelerometer,” Microsystem Technologies, vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 279–289, 2024.
[22] Z. Zhang, H. Zhang, Y. Hao, and H. Chang, “A review on MEMS silicon resonant accelerometers,” Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems, pp. 1–35, 2024.
[23] M. Gupta, D. Bhatia, P. Kumar, M. Gupta, D. Bhatia, and P. Kumar, “Micro electrical mechanical system (MEMS) sensor technologies,” in Modern Intervention Tools for Rehabilitation, Academic Press, 2023, pp. 25–44.
[24] S. Łuczak, M. Ekwińska, and D. Tomaszewski, “A method of precise auto-calibration in a micro-electro-mechanical system accelerometer,” Sensors, vol. 24, no. 12, pp. 4018–4018, 2024.
[25] O. V. Oțăt, I. Dumitru, D Tutunea, L. Matei, and G. Marinescu, “Theoretical and experimental considerations regarding the airbag system operation,” IOP Conference Series Materials Science and Engineering, vol. 1311, no. 1, pp. 012048–012048, 2024.
[26] Komalakumari, A. S, B. G N, C. J, and L. E, “Design of MEMS capacitive accelerometer for automotive airbag application,” International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 203–209, 2021.
[27] S. Veena, N. Rai, S. H. L, and V. S. Nagaraj, “Design and System Level Simulation of a MEMS Differential Capacitive Accelerometer,” in Emerging Research in Computing, Information, Communication and Applications, S. N. R, P. L. M, and P. N. H, Eds. Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore, 2023, pp. 971–982.
[28] G. Sun, S. Chen, S. Zhou, J. Gan, and Y. Zhu, “Multi-objective optimization study of driver’s airbag parameters,” Eighth International Conference on Electromechanical Control Technology and Transportation (ICECTT 2023), p. 55, 2023.
[29] A. Shrivastava, D. Behera, N. Reddy, and P. Aluru, Optimization of Side Impact Airbag Design Using Response Surface Method. No. 2023-01-0818. SAE Technical Paper, 2023.
[30] W. Liu, C. Yin, and G. Dou, “Design and Genetic Algorithm Optimization of a HighShockResistant MEMS Accelerometer Sensitive Structure for Automotive Airbag Applications,” in 2025 26th International Conference on Electronic Packaging Technology (ICEPT), pp. 1–5.
[31] S. Wang, Y. Ma, W. Xu, Y. Liu, and F. Han, “Temperature compensation of MEMS resonant accelerometers with an on-chip platinum film thermometer,” Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, vol. 33, no. 7, pp. 075004–075004, 2023.
[32] J. Zhang, T. Wu, Y. Liu, C. Lin, and Y. Su, “Thermal stress resistance for the structure of MEMS based silicon differential resonant accelerometer,” IEEE Sensors Journal, vol. 23, no. 9, pp. 9146–9157, 2023.
[33] J. Liu and L. Piao, “Study on the sensitivity mechanism of low-coupled heat flow biaxial MEMS accelerometers,” IET Conference Proceedings, vol. 2024, no. 9, pp. 220–224, 2025.
[34] T. Hongsakun, B. Tangtrakulwanich, N. Vittayaphadung, W. Thongruang, and S. Srewaradachpisal, “The effect of airbag design on impact attenuation for hip protection,” Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research, vol. 15, p. 4, 2025.
[35] T. Peng and Z. You, “Reliability of MEMS in Shock Environments: 2000–2020,” Micromachines, vol. 12, no. 11, p. 1275, 2021.
[36] P. Vinay, C. Vamsi, M. Hemanth, A. Saiteja, M. A. Ali, and P. A. Kumar, “Design and simulation of MEMS based accelerometer for crash detection and air bags deployment in automobiles,” International Journal of Mechanical Engineering and Technology, vol. 8, pp. 424–434, 2017.
[37] J. Zhang, Z. Yu, J. Yao, G. Yang, and Y. Su, “Investigating the mechanical behavior of antiimpact airbag fabrics: a structural design approach,” International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics, pp. 1–13, 2025.
[38] J. Li, G. Lu, J. Liu, S. G. Niazi, and Y. Zeng, “Failure mechanism analysis and reliability assessment of MEMS accelerometers,” Quality and Reliability Engineering International, vol. 41, no. 6, pp. 2547–2556, 2025.
[39] Z. Stanimirović and I. Stanimirović, “Advanced MEMS Technologies,” Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) - Innovation, Manufacturing Techniques and Applications, p. 7, 2025.
[40] M. A. R. Tahir, M. M. Saleem, S. A. R. Bukhari, A. Hamza, and R. I. Shakoor, “An efficient design of dual-axis MEMS accelerometer considering microfabrication process limitations and operating environment variations,” Microelectronics International, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 144-156, 2021.
[41] M. Carratù, V. Gallo, P. Sommella, A. Pietrosanto, M. Catelani, L. Ciani, et al. “Development of a methodology for MEMS accelerometer health state estimation,” Proceedings of the XXIV IMEKO World Congress, vol. 38, p. 101604, 2025.
[42] Y. Ma, X. Xu, and H. Li, “Optimization design of a capacitive microaccelerometer,” IEEE International Conference on Mechatronics and Automation, Xi’an, China, pp. 1153-1157, 2010.
[43] O. Sidek, M. Afif, and M. Miskam, “Design and simulation of SOI-mEMS Z-axis capacitive accelerometer,” International Journal of Engineering and Technology, vol. 10, p. 7, 2010.
[44] C. Sun, M. Tsai, Y. Liu, and W. Fang, “Implementation of a monolithic single proof-mass tri-axis accelerometer using CMOS-MEMS technique,” IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 57, pp. 1670-1679, 2010.
[45] W. Wai-Chi, A. Azid, and B. Majlis, “Formulation of stiffness constant and effective mass for a folded beam,” Archives of Mechanics, vol. 62, pp. 405-418, 2010.
[46] G. Ananthasuresh, K. Vinoy, K. Bhat, S. Gopalakrishnan, and V. Aatre, Wiley–India, 2012.
[47] M. Bao, Micro mechanical transducers: pressure sensors, accelerometers and gyroscopes, (Elsevier, 2000).
[48] M. Benmessaoud and M. M. Nasreddine, “Optimization of MEMS capacitive accelerometer,” Microsystem Technologies, vol. 19, no. 5, pp. 713–720, 2013.
[49] S. Chaterjee and G. Pohit, “Squeeze-Film Damping Characteristics of Cantilever Microresonators under Large Electrostatic Loading,” Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, vol. 19, no. 8, pp. 613–624, 2012.
[50] B. Chen and J. Miao, “Influence of deep RIE tolerances on comb-drive actuator performance,” Journal of Physics D Applied Physics, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 970–976, 2007.
[51] B. Vakili-Amini, “A Mixed-Signal Low-Noise Sigma-Delta Interface IC for integrated Sub-Micro-Gravity capacitive SOI accelerometers,” 2006. [Online]. Available: https://smartech.gatech.edu/bitstream/1853/10437/1/amini_babak_v_200605-_phd.pdf
[52] R. Li, Z. Mohammed, M. Rasras, I. M. Elfadel, and D. Choi, “Design, modelling and characterization of comb drive MEMS gap-changeable differential capacitive accelerometer,” Measurement, vol. 169, p. 108377, 2020.
[53] M. Keshavarzi and J. Y. Hasani, “Design and optimization of fully differential capacitive MEMS accelerometer based on surface micromachining,” Microsystem Technologies, vol. 25, no. 4, pp. 1369–1377, 2018.
[54] R. Mukhiya, P. Agarwal, S. Badjatya, M. Garg, P. Gaikwad, S. Sinha, et al., “Design, modelling and system level simulations of DRIE-based MEMS differential capacitive accelerometer,” Microsystem Technologies, vol. 25, no. 9, pp. 3521–3532, 2019.
[55] Z. Mohammed, G. Dushaq, A. Chatterjee, and M. Rasras, “An optimization technique for performance improvement of gap-changeable MEMS accelerometers,” Mechatronics, vol. 54, pp. 203–216, 2017.
[56] STMicroelectronics, “AIS328DQ: 3 Axis ±2g/±4g/±8g Digital Output Low Power High Performance Accelerometer,” Datasheet, 2025. [Online]. Available: https://www.st.com/resource/en/datasheet/ais328dq.pdf
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
