Simple and versatile micro‐cantilever sensors

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the simplicity and versatility of micro‐cantilever based sensors and to present the influence of added mass and stress on the frequency response of the sensor in order to determine the most suitable sensing domain for a given application.Design/methodology/approach – The frequency response of micro‐cantilevers depends not only on the applied mass and surface stress, but also on the mass position. An interpretation of the theoretical frequency results of the 1st and 2nd natural frequencies, for added mass, identifies a nodal point for the 2nd natural frequency which demonstrates mass invariance. Hence, at this nodal point, the frequency response remains constant regardless of mass and may be used for identifying purely induced surface stress influences on the micro‐cantilever's dynamic response. The Rayleigh‐Ritz energy method is used for the theoretical analysis. Theoretical results are compared with experimental results.Findings – A graph of the 2nd n...

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