With the emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) in multiple tactical defence missions, there was a need for an efficient visual signature suppression system for a more efficient stealth operation. One of our studies experimentally investigated the visual signature reduction of UAVs achieved through an active camouflage system. A prototype was constructed with newly developed operating software, Cloak, to provide active camouflage to the UAV model. The reduction of visual signature was analysed. Tests of the devices mounted on UAVs were conducted in another study. A series of experiments involved testing of the concept as well as the prototype. The experiments were conducted both in the laboratory and under normal environmental conditions. Results showed certain degrees of blending with the sky to create a camouflage effect. A mini-UAV made mostly out of transparent plastic was also designed and fabricated. Because of the transparency of the plastic material, the visibility of this UAV in the air is very small, and therefore the UAV is difficult to be detected. After re-designs and tests, eventually a practical system to reduce the visibility of UAVs viewed by human observers from the ground was developed. The system was evaluated during various outdoor tests. The scene target-to-background lightness contrast and the scene target-to-background colour contrast of the adaptive control system prototype were smaller than 10% at a stand-off viewing distance of 20-50 m.
Air traffic forecasting is important as it helps stakeholders to plan their budgets and facilities. Thus, three most commonly used forecasting models were compared to see which model suited the air passenger traffic the best. General forecasting equations were also created to forecast the passenger traffic. The equations could forecast around 6.0% growth from 2015 onwards. Another study sought to provide an initial work for determining a theoretical airspace load with relevant calculations. The air traffic was simulated to investigate the current airspace load. Logical and reasonable results were obtained from the modelling and simulations. The current utilization percentages for airspace load per hour and the static airspace load in the interested airspace were found to be 6.64% and 11.21% respectively. Our research also studied how ADS-B would affect the time taken for aircraft to travel. 6000 flights departing from and landing at the airport were studied. New flight plans were simulated with improved flight paths due to the implementation of ADS-B, and flight times of all studied flights could be improved.
Fixed abrasive chemical mechanical polishing has some advantages in generating planarity surfaces of optical components. The surface after polishing has better uniformity, and the material removal rate is much more than the traditional chemical mechanical polishing. The pad wear shape has a significant effect on the uniformity of the surface in the chemical mechanical polishing process. The shape of the pad after wear is almost concave, and it has been challenging to create a flat surface. Therefore, there is a requirement for creating a better pad shape. The better the pad shape is, the more uniform the surface is. Kinematic analysis has been done to investigate the effect of the conditioning process on the pad shape. Some proposals are presented to create a better pad shape. In this paper, kinematic aspects of effects of the conditioner speed and the pad speed on the pad shape were investigated. In addition, a new model, including new designs of the conditioner and pad, is proposed. The conditioner in the new model is static instead of oscillation. The new model generates a better uniformity of the pad shape compared to the old model. The result was validated by an algorithm which was validated by the experiments reported in our previous paper.
A Shack-Hartmann wavefront sensor (SHWS) uses a lenslet array to sample incoming wavefront on an image sensor,
which is usually a Charge Coupled Device (CCD). By measuring the shift of centroids on CCD compared to reference
spots, wavefront profile is reconstructed and therefore test surface shape is revealed. There are various factors that affect
the performance of SHWS. In order to study how and to which extend does each factor affect reconstruction result, we
established a simulation platform for SHWS in MATLAB. Through this platform, detailed properties and affecting
factors were analyzed. Based on the system-oriented platform, we obtained some interesting findings, which are very
important in the design of S-H wavefront sensors. In this paper, the performance-affecting significance of the key
properties of the light beam, the diverging angle, the intensity distribution, and the intensity of the light beam, is
simulated, analyzed and concluded. The simulation results are useful guide for the selection, design and preparation of
the sensing light beam.
In this study, the performance of two micro-thermoelectric coolers fabricated was investigated by theoretical calculation
and experimental testing of the samples. The natural convection rate and conduction rate were also considered. The
corrective implementation improved the theoretical calculation results.
In this study, a simple experimental setup was established and experiments were carried out to investigate light scattering
for scratch detection. Many factors would affect the scratch line detection based on light scattering, such as the size and
orientation of the scratches, state of the polarizer, light incident angle, detecting angle of light scattering, and light spot
size. It is found that the scattered light intensity depends on the orientation of the scratch lines. The intensity power of
scattered light would increase with increasing lines per millimeter on the test plate surface. The detection at the zerodegree
detecting angle is more sensitive than that at other detecting angles. It is also found that the scratch detection
based on light scattering may be performed using S polarization.
In this study, the interaction performance of three light sources, namely white light, laser diode and He-Ne laser, with
two wave-front sensing systems was investigated experimentally using different sensing distances and sampling
apertures (two hole-apertures for a Hartmann system and a
spatial-light-modulator lenslet-array for a digital
Shack-Hartmann system). It was found that the white light source was the best for the Hartmann system, while the He-Ne laser
was the most suitable light source for the digital Shack-Hartmann system. Geometrical accuracy of a hole-array aperture
and the sensing distance are important to generate stable wave fronts.
In this study, the atomic force microscope( AFM) scanning moiré method is developed. The scanning lines in the AFM monitor are used as the reference grating. The reference grating interferes with the specimen grating, and forms a moiré pattern on the monitor. The formation mechanism of AFM moiré, the deformation measurement principle using this method are described in detail. The AFM scanning moiré method is used to measure the residual deformation of mica substrate after being damaged by the YAG laser, and the thermal deformation in a QFP type electronic package. The experiment results verify the feasibility of AFM scanning moire method and show its ability to measure the in-plane deformation in both micro-and nano-scales.
In this paper, a design of a micro-robot system with microgrippers for the purpose of manipulation of micro-parts is proposed. The methodology includes the integration of micro-actuators for micromanipulation tasks of requirements that will involve small size, low weight, high resolution, high linearity and high accuracy. The combination of micro-assembly stages and microgrippers with CNC technology will allow the fixing of a microgripper onto a CNC robot.
In order to minimize the size of the microgripper, the structure is fabricated as a monolithic piece with elastic flexure hinges. The microgripper mechanism consists of flexure notch hinges and parallel movement of the gripping arms. These elements transmit the gripping force and gripping motion and realize a good mechanical advantage ratio. The compliant mechanism system of the microgrippers is analyzed using a theoretical pseudo-rigid-body model and flexural hinge equation to investigate and predict the displacement and force relationships between the inputs and the outputs. In addition, a finite element study is done on the mechanism model to compare with the theoretical results.
The reliability of electronic packages in mechanical drop tests is critical especially for portable electronic devices as these electronic packages are very vulnerable to solder joint failures caused by the mechanical shock and the PCB warping upon impact. Drop test studies are performed to investigate the solder joints mechanical failure in electronic packages. In this paper, the mechanical impact on the solder joints of a flip chip in a simulated drop test is investigated. The drop test simulation consists of a typical flip chip on board (FCOB) that has 48 peripheral eutectic solder bumps modeled in CAD/CAM software. The flip chip solder joint reliability under mechanical shock is studied using 3D finite element simulation. Comprehensive design analyses are performed to study 3 different models. The design models are varied in the substrate dimensions and the addition of encapsulation. The results of the stresses and strains in the solder joints are obtained using finite element analysis in the drop test. The findings indicate that the stress on the flip chip corner solder joint decreases if the substrate is larger in dimension. In addition, the introduction of an encapsulation helps to reduce the stress experienced by the solder joint.
Polymeric coatings are often used to develop various thermally tunable FBG based devices. Coatings on FBGs can be intended for protection, improvement of thermal sensitivities, special spectral shaping etc., and the quality of the coating on the FBG deserves special attention. For example, the adhesion of the polymeric coatings to the silica based optical fiber plays an important role in the wavelength response characteristics of fiber Bragg gratings during thermal tuning. In this paper, we theoretically investigate the effect of adhesion and the non-uniformity of the coating thickness on the thermal tuning process of FBGs. Experiments were done to qualitatively analyze the influence of adhesion. However practically it is very difficult to quantify the percentage adhesion and quality of coatings for experimental verification. Therefore a methodology based on finite element analysis has been utilized for theoretical investigation of the effect of adhesion of polymeric coating on the performance of FBG based thermally tuned devices. Three-dimensional finite element simulations were carried out. Spring elements are used to inter connect the nodes of the meshed models of optical fiber and coating. The effect of adhesion is studied as a function of spring stiffness. The effect of non-uniformity in the coating thickness in the circumferential direction was also studied.
To have better understanding of the effects of using different epoxies as the encapsulation and/or underfill epoxies on the fatigue life of flip chip packages, finite element analysis was conducted. The finite element analysis software, ANSYS, was used to model flip chip packages with and without underfill and encapsulation and to run thermal testing simulations. The results revealed that the package with the longest fatigue life was the one with the underfill epoxy only. Packages with both underfill and encapsulation epoxies had shorter fatigue life, while packages with the encapsulation epoxy only had the shortest fatigue life. The use of the underfill epoxy with higher Young’s Modulus and lower viscosity and CTE reduces the thermal shear stress experienced by the solder joint, thus lengthening its fatigue life.
The test procedures and experimental results for calibration of a 2-D piezoresistive stress sensor using a four-point bending (4PB) fixture are reported. Focuses have been made on the (100) silicon test chip due to the fact that it is the most commonly used in the current microelectronics industry. The sensors on the (100) test chips were able to accurately measure plane stress components in a temperature compensated manner. The resistance of stress sensors was found to vary linearly with the applied stress. The piezoresistive coefficients were calculated and found to coincide with the reported values for silicon. A further study of the thermally induced stresses is also included in this paper to determine the resistance change that varies linearly with temperature.
The interfacial behavior of a flip chip structure under thermal testing was investigated using real-time moire interferometry. The maximum shear strain occurred at the silicon-epoxy interface. The shear strain variation increased significantly along the interface, with the maximum shear concentration occurring at the edge of the specimen. The creep effect was more dominant in the FR4-epoxy interface. To characterize the behavior of the interfacial crack, stress intensity factors and the strain energy release rate in the vicinity of the crack tip were used to conduct a qualitative study. A sharp strain gradient occurred at the crack tip. The stress intensity factors were dependent on temperature.
The moire interferometry has been used to investigate the strains induced by thermal loading in various electronics packages. The AFM scanning moire technique has also been utilized to measure the strains of electronics packages with an even better resolution. The advantages and disadvantages of the full field moire, the micro moire, and the AFM scanning moire techniques are compared.
This paper discusses surface texture characterization of silicon, silicon carbide and some metal surfaces using a Chroma Meter. The specimen surfaces were obtained with various machining methods. Lightness (brightness) has a good correlation with surface roughness and could be used as an in-process/in-cycle/post-process technique for surface texture characterization. Surfaces with lower roughness values had lower lightness values.
In this paper, a phase shifting technique for atomic force microscope (AFM) scanning moire method is proposed. The phase shifting is realized in four steps from 0 to 2π by a piezo-scanner in AFM. The measurement method and experimental techniques are described in detail. For demonstration, this method is applied to determine the phase distribution in AFM moire of a 1200 lines/mm holographic grating used to measure thermal deformation in a QFP electronic package.
Surface profile measurement using a CD optical pickup head was studied. A simple controller capable of driving the laser diode in the optical pickup head with a power control feature was developed. A simple setup with the optical probe was used for experiments of surface profile measurement. The relationship between the height change and the light intensity received by the photo detector was studied. Hill-shape-like curves were obtained and the relationship was verified experimentally.
The full field moire interferometry and the micro moire interferometry were applied to investigate the thermo-mechanical deformation induced by thermal loading in electronics packages. The packages investigated were flip chip and flip chip ball grid array (BGA) packages. The solder alloys used in the packages were eutectic solder, tin silver solder and tin silver copper solder. Thermo-mechanical deformations and shear strains generated from CTE mismatch were determined experimentally using a holographic grating. Micro-deformations within the solder joints of the flip chip packages were captured and analyzed. The results showed that micro moire interferometry was effective in micro-deformation measurement. The thermally induced shear strains in the underfilled flip chip packages increased almost linearly with distance from the neutral point. The outermost solder joints suffered the highest shear strains. For flip chip BGA packages on FR-4 boards, the solder joints under the die corners had the highest shear strains. High shear strains were also observed at the underfill fillet. The performances of the two lead-free solder alloys, tin silver solder and tin silver copper solder, were compared with that of the conventional eutectic solder. It was found that tin silver solder joints had the highest shear strains whereas the shear strains for tin silver copper solder were comparable with or lower than those of eutectic solder.
Parameters affecting the sensitivity of a 3D measurement system using the phase shifting technique were investigated. A simple wedge object was used for the experiments to study the factors without the possible complication caused by using a complex object. A calibration procedure was derived to investigate to what extend the important parameters affected the results of the depth measurement by the use of the phase shifting method. These parameters were the pitch, projector magnification, camera magnification, and projection angle. The results of the experiments are presented and possible reasons for such results are discussed in this paper.
This paper presents research results on the relationships between surface roughness and lightness of the surfaces machined by polishing, grinding, turning, and milling. The objective of this study is to investigate the correlation between surface roughness heights and lightness values measured on various material surfaces machined by the four processes. This may provide a fast and cost effective method for surface texture characterization. The four processes were chosen based on their distinct differences in the surface roughness values they produce. Some linear relationships were obtained for the surface roughness and lightness values.
The AFM scanning moire method was proposed to measure the in-plane deformation in the micrometer scale. The principle and technique for measuring in-plane deformation using AFM scanning moire method are described. This method was applied to measure the thermal deformation in a quad flat pack (QFP) electronic package at 100 degrees C. The normal strain component (epsilon) y and the shear strain component(gamma) xy near the die in the QFP package were measured.
The scanning moire method was suggested in 1980s. A scanning moire method using optical method was proposed in 1993. The scanning lines in the SEM monitor or CCD video camera were utilized as the reference grating to form a scanning moire pattern. The available results are limited to the deformation measurement by using a grating with a frequency less than 250 lines/mm. Thus it is impossible to apply this method to measure deformation in nanometer scale. With the development of micro-mechanics and the appearance of nanometer mechanics, new techniques for deformation measurement form micrometer to nanometer scales are in urgent need.
The demand for increased computing power and more complex IC devices with increased functions per chip results in higher I/O count packaging. With the shrinkage in IC size and the decrease in pad pitch, the trend is moving from the current fine-pitch, such as the 50micrometers and 40micrometers . Given the tight constraint, the bonding process and bonding tool design become more complex, which produces smaller bond deformation in a repeatable manner. Those problems associated with open wire, bond liftoff, surface contamination, etc., have now become more sensitive and difficult to control.
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