Simulation study on squeeze film air damping

The theory on squeeze film air damping, including Reynolds equation and Poisson equation, has been widely used in theoretical modelling of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) for many years, but most of the previous studies did not take into account special verification of the theory from numerical simulation. In this Letter, a simulation method is proposed and investigated, and squeeze film air damping is simulated on two basic MEMS structures, the rectangular plate structure, and the circular plate structure. The simulation results are in good agreement with theoretical analysis, and it further proves the correctness of the theory on squeeze film air damping from the point of view of numerical simulation. In addition, the perforated plate is widely used in MEMS, and squeeze film air damping of the perforated plate is also simulated in this Letter. It is concluded that simulation results are better than theoretical analysis, in which the boundary effect of the plate was not considered. Therefore, it is anticipated that the authors simulated method will pave the way to analyse squeeze film air damping for some complex MEMS structures, including the acquisition of air pressure distribution, air damping force and damping coefficient.