Edge Effect on Viscous Drag of the Rotor in Liquid Floating Rotational Micro-Gyroscope

Abstract

A liquid floating rotational micro-gyroscope is proposed in this paper, whose stability is improved by liquid suspension. High rotor velocity is needed to improve its sensitivity. Edge effect is the phenomenon that sharp edges cause much more viscous drag. This work researches edge effect's influence on viscous drag to speed up the rotor. Flow field models of the sharp edge structure and fillet structure are established separately. Viscous drag is measured by simulation and experiment. Edge effect causes a lot of viscous drag and it can be reduced significantly by filleting the rotor. The maximal reduction is one third relative to the sharp edge structure, and it is reached when fillet curvature radius is half of rotor thickness.