SCALING LAWS IN

MINIATURISATION
INTRODUCTION TO SCALING LAWS:

Scaling theory is a value guide to what may work and what may not work
when we start to design the world of micro.

There are generally two types of scaling laws that are applicable to the
design of microsystems:
1. Strictly dependent on the size of physical objects and the behaviour of
objects as governed by the law of physics.
Ex. : Scaling law of geometry, Scaling of rigid-body dynamics and electrostatic and
electromagnetic forces.

2. The scaling of phenomenological behaviour of microsystems.

Ex.: Scaling in fluid mechanics
1) SCALING IN GEOMETRY:

• Volume (V) and surface (S) are two physical parameters that are
frequently involved in machine design.
• Volume relates to both mechanical and thermal inertia.
• Surface is related to pressure and the buoyant forces in fluid
mechanics.
Let ℓ = linear dimension of a solid, we will have:
The volume: V ∝ l3
The surface: S ∝ l2

So,
EXAMPLES:
2) SCALING IN RIGID-BODY DYNAMICS:

• Forces are required to make parts to move (Micro actuators).

• Power is the source for the generation of forces.
• An engineer needs to resolve the following issues when dealing with the
design of a dynamics system such as an actuator :
 The required amount of a force to move a part
 How fast the desired movements can be achieved
 How readily a moving part can be stopped.
• The resolution to the above issues is on the inertia of the actuating
part.
• The inertia of solid is related to its mass and the acceleration.
• In the case of miniaturizing these components, one needs to understand
the effect of reduction in the size on the power (P), force (F) or
pressure (p), and the time (t) required to deliver the motion.
3) SCALING IN ELECTROSTATIC FORCE:
 The electric potential energy induced in the
parallel plates is:

U = -CV2 =

 Let ℓ = linear scale of the electrodes,

∝ l0
W, L , d ∝ l1

 The scaling of voltage, V can be approximated by the Paschen’s effect.

 We will use a linear scaling for the voltage:
V ∝ l1 from which we get the scaling of the Potential energy,
U to be:
U ∝ (l)3
Electrostatic forces in misaligned electrodes are obtained by:

So, we may conclude that electrostatic forces:

Fd , Fw, FL ∝ l2
4) SCALING IN ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCES

Faraday’s law governs the induced force (or a motion) in the wire under the influence of a magnetic field.

 The induced electromagnetic force will be expressed as:

 F ∝ l 4 , in which l = L, the length of the conducting wire.

5) SCALING IN ELECRTICTY
Some of the scaling laws related to electricity may be derived from simple
laws of physics as shown:

The relationship indicates a significant disadvantage of scaling down of power supply systems.
6) SCALING IN FLUID MECHANICS:
 A.Volumetric Flow, Q:
From Hagen-Poiseuille’s equation :

B. Pressure Drop, ∆ P:
From the Hagen-Poiseuille’s equation:
7) SCALING IN HEAT TRANSFER:

 Scaling in heat conduction:

A. How conductive the solid becomes when it is scaling down?

This issue is related to thermal conductivity of solids.
The thermal conductivity, k to be:

B. How fast heat can be conducted in solids:

This issue is related to Fourier number defined as:
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