Analytical analysis and experimental investigation of energy loss mechanisms in rocking mass microgyroscope

Rocking mass microgyroscope (ab. RMG) is an axial-symmetry vibratory microgyroscope with uniform vibratory type and equal nature frequency in ideal conditions; thus it has potential to be the microgyroscope with high sensitivity, and is the research hotspot now. One key factor which affects the sensitivity of RMG is its Q factors, which are related to various energy loss mechanisms in its vibrating micro-structure. Air damping, support loss, thermoelastic damping, base energy loss, and other energy loss mechanisms for RMG are systematically researched, relevant analytical models are solved, and the influences of its structural parameters on Q factors are also analyzed. Results indicate that: air damping is the dominant energy loss for RMG in the air, which means vacuum encapsulation technique must be adopted; support loss, thermoelastic damping and base energy loss are important energy loss mechanisms for RMG in vacuum packages, via synthetically analyzing all analytical models solved. Experimental investigations partially validate conclusions above.