A technique for optimising performance of cantilever-type micro acceleration sensor has been developed. Performance of a sensor is judged mainly by its sensitivity and bandwidth. Maximising product of these two important parameters of inertial sensors helps to optimise the sensor performance. It is observed that placement of a lumped mass (add-mass) on the sensor's proof-mass helps to control both sensitivity and the first resonant frequency of the cantilever structure to the designer's choice. Simulation and modelling of various dimensions of rectangular structures for acceleration sensor with this novel add-mass technique are discussed. Coventorware MEMSCAD has been used to model, simulate, and carry out FEM analysis. A simple analytical model is discussed to elaborate the mechanics of cantilever-type micro accelerometer. The comparison of the results obtained from analytical model and the finite element simulations reveal these to be in good agreement. The advantages of this technique for choosing the two most important sensor parameters (i.e., sensitivity and bandwidth) of an inertial sensor are brought out.

Acceleration sensors find applications in missile and competent munitions subsystems. Cantilever-type sensor's sensitivity and bandwidth are dependant on material properties of the cantilever and structure of proof mass. It is always desired to design a sensor as sensitive as possible but also maintaining higher bandwidth. In piezoresistive (cantilever-type) accelerometers, various techniques were employed by designers to enhance their sensitivity and bandwidth. Most of these techniques are usually focused on shape and size of either cantilever or proof mass. This paper presents a concept of creating stress concentration regions (SCRs) on the cantilever for enhancing its sensitivity. Five types of structures were simulated to study the behaviour of piezoresistive sensors with SCRs implementation. Use of SCRs results in substantial increase in the sensitivity, which is of the order of 1.85 times the nominal sensitivity. It was aimed at maximising sensor's performance factor, which is the product of sensor bandwidth and sensitivity. This study gives new dimension to the ways of improving performance of cantilevertype inertial piezoresistive sensor.