Friction and Wear Properties of Microstructures in MEMS

Friction and wear has been a major problem for many micro actuators. The friction and wear properties in micro scale have been investigated experimentally by many research institutions using both scientific instrumentation and microstructures of practical dimensions. Based on the experimental results, models for micro friction are discussed and the different friction properties for micro and macro scales are compared. The measures to mitigate the friction and wear problem are introduced.