The study aims at examining the behaviour of electromagnetic actuator as inductivesensor. The electromagnets are integrated in an alternative Wheatstone bridge and poweredwith alternative tension. This circuit allows the measurement of the electromagnetinductance variation, and as this variation is a function of the air gap, the displacementcan be deduced. The effect of eddy currents is assessed in order to choose the suitablebridge frequency. Finally, a demodulator is used to obtain the tension proportional to theair gap value. The behaviour is assessed experimentally. Experiments are carried out on asimple beam; clamped at one end and simply supported at the other. The displacements couldbe measured by using four eddy current sensors and the inductive sensor. The inductivesensor displacement and a modal approximation of the four eddy current sensors resultingfrom impact testing are compared. Analysis of the results obtained predicts an efficientand robust behaviour.

In this paper, the development of a portable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) device is presented. Integrating electromagnetic mini-actuators for bi-directional fluid transport, the proposed device, whose dimension is 67mm × 66mm × 25mm, can be fully operated with a 5V DC voltage. The device consists of four major parts: A disposable channel chip in which PCR mixture is manipulated and reacted, a heater chip which generates different temperature zones for PCR reaction, a linear actuator array for pumping PCR mixture, and a circuit module for controlling and driving the system. The advantages of the device include the rapid temperature responses associated with continuous-flow-type PCR devices, as well as the programmable thermal cycling associated with chamber-type PCR devices. The thermal characteristics are measured and discussed. PCR amplification is successfully performed for the 122 bp segment of MCF-7/adr cell line. Due to its small footprint, this self-contained system potentially can be employed for point-of-care (POC) applications.

Certaines structures non-linéaires sont dotées d’hystérésis responsables de phénomènes desaut dans les réponses fréquentielles et d’instabilités. Dans ce travail, on étudie cesphénomènes analytiquement, numériquement et expérimentalement sur une poutre encastréelibre dont le comportement non-linéaire est modifiable. La non-linéarité dans la structureest introduite par des actionneurs électromagnétiques. La structure ainsi que lesactionneurs sont dimensionnés afin de mettre en évidence le phénomène de saut. Lesrésultats obtenus analytiquement en utilisant une méthode de perturbation sur un modèlenon-linéaire simplifié ont été validés expérimentalement et par simulations numériques.Ces résultats montrent qu’il est possible de maîtriser le phénomène de saut dans lesréponses fréquentielles en utilisant des actionneurs électromagnétiques.