Minimum Part Size Problem

[dimsh2000]

I'm currently in the process of creating a MEMS chip in
Solidworks, with the intention of conducting stress
analysis on the entire part later on. When trying to
dimension the part, however, I ran into issues with
Solidworks not being able to extrude the part. One of my
dimensions is 1.8 microinches (0.0000018 in), but when I
try to extrude I get an error that tells me I can't have a
gap smaller than 0.00000394 in.

Is there a way to get around this? If not, is there any
other method that I can use for MEMS design of such small
parts?

 

[jimshaw]

It appears this is the lowest limit on feature size for SW. I know you can change the accuracy in ProE, but I'm not sure how to do it in SW.


I've done MEMS thermal analsyis in Classic Ansys (which couldn't care less about feature size or units) so if the geometry is simple maybe you can build your mesh directly in your FEA tool.


Finally, isn't CTE linear? Meaning, couldn't you just scale up the model, scale up the material properties accordingly, and then scale down the results? I suppose it depends on how simple your geometry is...


Jim
http://www.linkedin.com/in/shawengineering

 

[Mihail]

Just an idea: Design your part 10 or 100 times bigger. Use the same scale for loader. I think that the stress analysis get resonable results. I repeat: it is just an idea.
Good luck !