Study and realization of a fluidic thermal gyrometer

This paper presents the study, manufacturing and characterization of a single-axis jet flow gyrometer. The operating principle of the device is based on the deflection of a laminar gas stream due to the Coriolis effect; it is then a gyrometer with no solid proof mass. A warm gas jet is generated by a micropump through a microfluidic channel opening into a cavity. Two temperature detectors are placed symmetrically with respect to the axis of the flow and their differential temperature is measured. The latter is a function of the rotational velocity applied to the system. The influence of flow velocity on the sensitivity was studied. In addition, the simulation allowed us to determine an optimum detectors geometry in order to find the best sensitivity. The numerical study also made it possible to determine an optimum detectors position (1000 μm) in order to define a compromise between high sensitivity and large measuring range.