Design of Small-Range High-Sensitivity Piezoresistive Gauge Pressure Sensors

A high-sensitivity pressure sensor with small measurement range was investigated for the failure prediction and health management (PHM) of aircraft oxygen supply, hydraulic, environmental control and fuel systems. The pressure sensor working mechanism and mechanical simulation were carried out using ANSYS software. Based on the simulation results, a novel MEMS piezoresistive pressure sensor was proposed, consisting of a composite structure of curved membrane and metered beam. The membrane was supported by cambered silicon cups. We optimized the design parameters of the sensor and determined the position of the resistors, resulting in a high sensitivity and a good linearity in the measurement range of −2 KPa~12 KPa. The sensitivity of the designed pressure sensor is obtained as 21.801 mV/KPa with a nonlinearity of 0.02% using ANSYS software simulation and analysis. Finally, we summarized the fabrication process of the designed pressure sensor based on the SOI substrate.