Study of miniaturized electronic safe and arm device

Abstract

Miniaturization of the safe and arm (S&A) device in fuzes is increasing important as smaller and smarter fuzes are demanded in the modern warfare. Microelectromechanical System (MEMS) fabrication techniques provides great prospects of miniaturization with advantages including decreased size, mass and batch fabrication as opposed to other conventional manufacturing methods. The intention of this report was to investigate and propose a MEMS based S&A device design. Compared to previous research, the present work strives for simpler design that has minimal single points of failure. The working principle of the proposed mechanism uses the setback acceleration and centrifugal force to unlock the safety locks and actuate the mechanism while the delay is controlled by the verge escapement design. The proposed ESAD was designed theoretically with mathematical models and verified with simulation results. The prototype was 3D printed and the experimental results demonstrated the proof of concept of the proposed design.