Mechanical filter

About: Mechanical filter is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1265 publications have been published within this topic receiving 11215 citations.

Microelectromechanical filters for signal processing

Abstract: Microelectromechanical filters based on coupled lateral microresonators are demonstrated. This new class of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) has potential signal-processing applications for filters which require narrow bandwidth (high Q), good signal-to-noise ratio, and stable temperature and aging characteristics. Microfilters presented in this paper are made by surface-micromachining technologies and tested by using an off-chip modulation technique. The frequency range of these filters is from approximately 5 kHz to on the order of 1 MHz for polysilicon microstructures with suspension beams having a 2-/spl mu/m-square cross section. A series-coupled resonator pair, designed for operation at atmospheric pressure, has a measured center frequency of 18.7 kHz and a pass bandwidth of 1.2 kHz. A planar hermetic sealing process has been developed to enable high quality factors for these mechanical filters and make possible wafer-level vacuum encapsulations. This process uses a low-stress silicon nitride shell for vacuum sealing, and experimental results show that a measured quality factor of 2200 for comb-shape microresonators can be achieved.

A Hybrid Active Filter for a Three-Phase 12-Pulse Diode Rectifier Used as the Front End of a Medium-Voltage Motor Drive

Abstract: This paper describes a hybrid active filter intended for mitigating the line-side harmonic currents of a three-phase 12-pulse diode rectifier used as the front end of a medium-voltage high-power motor drive. This hybrid filter is characterized by series connection of a simple LC filter and a small-rated active filter. This circuit configuration brings low cost, small size, and light weight to the hybrid filter. A three-phase experimental system rated at 400 V and 15 kW is designed, constructed, and tested, which is a downscaled model of the medium-voltage motor drive system. In this experiment, the LC filter is tuned to the 11th-harmonic frequency, and the active filter is based on a three-level neutral-point-clamped pulsewidth modulation converter (NPC PWM) with a dc capacitor voltage as low as 28 V. This hybrid filter is connected on either first or fourth winding of a line-frequency transformer with a first Δ-winding voltage of 400 V in the primary, and a second Δ-winding voltage of 220 V, a third Y-winding voltage of 220 V, and a fourth Δ-winding voltage of 400 V in the secondary. Experimental results show that the hybrid filter performs satisfactory filtering in a range from no-load to full-load conditions.

Mode locking methods and apparatus

Abstract: In one aspect the invention relates to a frequency varying wave generator. The generator includes a gain element adapted to amplify a wave having a wavelength; a time varying tunable wavelength selective filter element in communication with the gain element, the tunable Filter element adapted to selectively filter waves during a period T; and a feedback element in communication with the tunable filter element and the gain element, wherein the tunable wavelength selective filter element, the gain element and the feedback element define a circuit such that the roundtrip time for the wave to propagate through the circuit is substantially equal to a non-zero integer multiple of the period T.

Optical notch filter utilizing electric dipole resonance absorption

Abstract: An optical notch filter having a suspension of small absorbing particles which blocks a narrow band of frequencies. The small absorbent particles are suspended as a colloidal system which can have either a solid, liquid or gas as host material. The absorbing particles can be incorporated in a solid matrix as a transmission filter or used on the surface of a mirror as a reflection filter. The filter can be tuned by an externally applied electric field or by applying hydrostatic pressure.

Structural scaling and functional design of the cercal wind-receptor hairs of cricket

Abstract: We have estimated the intrinsic mechanical parameters of cricket cercal wind-receptor hairs. The hairs were modeled as an inverted pendulum, and mechanical parameters of the equation of motion were determined from data given by a systematic measurement of mobility by the least-square error method. The theoretical torque which turns the hair shaft is given by the drag force due to the moving air. The drag force is given by the method of Stokes' mechanical impedance of an oscillating cylinder in viscous fluid. The effect of the boundary layer in which air is stagnating on the substrate surface is also taken into account. The moment of inertia of a hair shaft shows a clear length dependency to the power of 4.32 of the hair length. The torsional resistance within the hair base and the stiffness of hair-supporting spring also show clear length dependencies to the power of 2.77 and 1.67, respectively. The torsional resistance within the hair base is so large that the hair is a strongly damped non-oscillatory second-order system. The large resistance within the hair base represents an efficient energy absorption by the sensory cell. The resistance seems to match with the source impedance, i.e., the frictional resistance at the site of air-hair contact. The impedance matching provides the condition of maximum power transmission from the moving air to the sensory cell. Structural scaling is discussed in relation to the functional scaling of the frequency-range fractionation of the mechanical filter array with a common biological design.