A real time human-machine interface for an ultrahigh temperature MEMS sensor-igniter

The progress of numerous emerging technologies is currently hampered by a disconnect between material science and engineering applications. The potential of nano-scale engineering can not be fully exploited as long as basic material science and engineering are not integrated. This paper is concerned with the development of a novel computational methodology that unites fundamental materials science, mechanical design, reliability analysis, and system level performance assessment in an interactive environment called the human-machine interface (HMI). The HMI serves as a real time display of the performance and the status of the device, e.g. the remaining life, and provides a simulation platform for design and optimization. The architecture and performance of the HMI is demonstrated by the example of an ultrahigh temperature MEMS sensor-igniter. The device is fabricated from a novel polymer derived ceramic (PDC) called silicon carbonitride (SiCN). The HMI methodology is portable to health monitoring of other high temperature systems such as gas turbine engines, missile systems, and high temperature processing of advanced materials.