Nonlinear static and dynamic responses of an electrically actuated viscoelastic microbeam

On the basis of the Euler-Bernoulli hypothesis, nonlinear static and dynamic responses of a viscoelastic microbeam under two kinds of electric forces [a purely direct current （DC） and a combined current composed of a DC and an alternating current] are studied. By using Taylor series expansion, a governing equation of nonlinear integro-differential type is derived, and numerical analyses are performed. When a purely DC is applied, there exist an instantaneous pull-in voltage and a durable pull-in voltage of which the physical meanings are also given, whereas under an applied combined current, the effect of the element relaxation coefficient on the dynamic pull-in phenomenon is observed where the largest Lyapunov exponent is taken as a criterion for the dynamic pull-in instability of viscoelastic microbeams.     

Reduced-order models for microelectromechanical rectangular and circular plates incorporating the Casimir force

We consider the von Kármán nonlinearity and the Casimir force to develop reduced-order models for prestressed clamped rectangular and circular electrostatically actuated microplates. Reduced-order models are derived by taking flexural vibration mode shapes as basis functions for the transverse displacement. The in-plane displacement vector is decomposed as the sum of displacements for irrotational and isochoric waves in a two-dimensional medium. Each of these two displacement vector fields satisfies an eigenvalue problem analogous to that of transverse vibrations of a linear elastic membrane. Basis functions for the transverse and the in-plane displacements are related by using the nonlinear equation governing the plate in-plane motion. The reduced-order model is derived from the equation yielding the transverse deflection of a point. For static deformations of a plate, the pull-in parameters are found by using the displacement iteration pull-in extraction method. Reduced-order models are also used to study linear vibrations about a predeformed configuration. It is found that 9 basis functions for a rectangular plate give a converged solution, while 3 basis functions give pull-in parameters with an error of at most 4%. For a circular plate, 3 basis functions give a converged solution while the pull-in parameters computed with 2 basis functions have an error of at most 3%. The value of the Casimir force at the onset of pull-in instability is used to compute device size that can be safely fabricated.     

Pull-in instability of a typical electrostatic MEMS resonator and its control by delayed feedback

Pull-in instability of the electrostatic microstructures is a common undesirable phenomenon which implies the loss of reliability of micro-electromechanical systems. Therefore, it is necessary to understand its mechanism and then reduce the phenomenon. In this work, pull-in instability of a typical electrostatic MEMS resonator is discussed in detail. Delayed position feedback and delayed velocity feedback are introduced to suppress pull-in instability, respectively. The thresholds of AC voltage for pull-in instability in the initial system and the controlled systems are obtained analytically by the Melnikov method. The theoretical predictions are in good agreement with the numerical results. It follows that pull-in instability of the MEMS resonator can be ascribed to the homoclinic bifurcation inducing by the AC and DC load. Furthermore, it is found that the controllers are both good strategies to reduce pull-in instability when their gains are positive. The delayed position feedback controller can work well only when the delay is very short and AC voltage is low, while the delayed velocity feedback will be effective under a much higher AC voltage and a wider delay range.     

Closed-form solutions of the pull-in instability in nano-cantilevers under electrostatic and intermolecular surface forces

In this paper, a distributed parameter model is used to study the pull-in instability of cantilever type nanomechanical switches subjected to intermolecular and electrostatic forces. In modeling of the electrostatic force, the fringing field effect is taken into account. The model is nonlinear due to the inherent nonlinearity of the intermolecular and electrostatic forces. The nonlinear differential equation of the model is transformed into the integral form by using the Green’s function of the cantilever beam. Closed-form solutions are obtained by assuming an appropriate shape function for the beam deflection to evaluate the integrals. The pull-in parameters of the switch are computed under the combined effects of electrostatic and intermolecular forces. Electrostatic microactuators and freestanding nanoactuators are considered as special cases of our study. The detachment length and the minimum initial gap of freestanding nano-cantilevers, which are the basic design parameters for NEMS switches, are determined. The results of the distributed parameter model are compared with the lumped parameter model.     

An alternative reduced order model for electrically actuated micro-beams under mechanical shock

This study focuses on the effect of mechanical shock on dynamic pull-in instability of eclectically actuated micro-beams through an alternative reduced order model (ROM). The model's predictions for dynamic pull-in voltages are compared with available finite element (FE) results and six modes Galerkin approximations in the literature. It is shown that present results for high shock accelerations agree with FE predictions better than those obtained using six modes approximations. Furthermore, the present model can remove the limitation of previous methods in capturing dynamic pull-in instability for cases under enormous shock accelerations.     

Material structure and size effects on the nonlinear dynamics of electrostatically-actuated nano-beams

An accurate nonlinear model for electrostatically actuated beams made of nanocrystalline materials is proposed accounting for the beam material structure and the beam size effects. Two sets of measures are incorporated in the context of the proposed model to account for the inherent properties (the material structure related properties) and the acquired properties (the size dependent properties) of the beam. The inherent properties of the beam are modeled via a micromechanical model while the acquired properties are modeled via a non-classical continuum beam theory. The micromechanical model for nanocrystalline materials is proposed where the necessary measures to account for the effects of the grain size, the voids percent and size, and the interface (grain boundary) are incorporated. All the measures presented in the micromechanical model are related to the material structure to correctly model the structure of nanocrystalline materials. According to the classical couple stress and Gurtin-Murdoch surface elasticity theories, a size-dependent Euler-Bernoulli beam model is developed to model the mechanics of electrostatically actuated nano-beams. For the first time, the impacts of the beam material structure along with the beam size on the nonlinear dynamics and pull-in instability behaviors of electrostatically actuated nano-beams are intensively studied. The performed analyses through the present effort reflect the great impacts of the beam material structure and the beam size on the static pull-in, the natural frequencies, the dynamic pull-in, and nonlinear dynamics of electrostatically actuated nano-beams.     

Application of homotopy analysis method in studying dynamic pull-in instability of microsystems

In this study, homotopy analysis method is used to derive analytic solutions to predict dynamic pull-in instability of electrostatically-actuated microsystems. The model considers midplane stretching, initial stress, distributed electrostatic force and fringing fields effect. Influences of different parameters on dynamic pull-in instability are investigated. Results are in good agreement with numerical and experimental findings.     

Influence of size effect and elastic boundary condition on the pull-in instability of nano-scale cantilever beams immersed in liquid electrolytes

In this study, the static pull-in instability of nanocantilever beams immersed in a liquid electrolyte is theoretically investigated. In modeling the nanocantilever beam, the effects of van der Waals forces, elastic boundary condition and size dependency are considered. The modified couple stress theory, containing material length scale parameter, is used to interpret the size effect which appears in micro/nanoscale structures. The modified Adomian decomposition (MAD) method is used to gain an approximate analytical expression for the critical pull-in parameters which are essential for the design of micro/nanoactuators. The results show that the beam can deflect upward or downward, based on the values of the non-dimensional parameters. It is found that the size effect greatly influences the beam deflection and is more noticeable for small thicknesses. Neglecting size effect overestimates the deflection of the nanobeam. The findings reveal that the increase of ion concentration increases the pull-in voltage but decreases the pull-in deflection. Furthermore, an increase in ion concentration increases the influence of size-dependent effect on pull-in voltage.     

Primary resonance excitation of electrically actuated clamped circular plates

We investigate the response of an electrically actuated clamped circular plate to a primary resonance excitation of its first axisymmetric mode using an analytical reduced-order model (macromodel). We discuss the inf luence of the number of modes retained in the discretization on the predicted solutions. The reduced-order model, which is a system of coupled nonlinear ordinary-dif ferential equations, accounts for general residual stress and strain hardening and allows for general material and geometric design variables. Our reduced-order model is robust up to the pull-in instability and is general enough to be an ef fective design tool for capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers.     

Suppression of pull-in in a microstructure actuated by mechanical shocks and electrostatic forces

This work investigates the effect of a high-frequency voltage (HFV) on the pull-in instability in a microstructure actuated by mechanical shocks and electrostatic forces. The microstructure is modelled as a single-degree-of-freedom mass-spring-damper system. The method of direct partition of motion is used to split the fast and slow dynamics. Analysis of steady-state solutions of the slow dynamic allows the investigation of the influence of the HFV on the pull-in. The results show that adding HFV rigidifies the system, creates new stable equilibria and suppresses the pull-in instability for adequate high-frequency voltages. To illustrate the applicability of the result, a specific capacitive microelectromechanical system consisting of a clamped-clamped microbeam is considered.     

Dynamic analysis and design of electrically actuated viscoelastic microbeams considering the scale effect

Viscoelastic phenomena widely exist in MEMS materials, which may have certain effects on quasi-static behaviors and transition mechanism of nonlinear jumping phenomena. The static and dynamic behaviors of a doubly clamped viscoelastic microbeam actuated by one sided electrode are investigated in detail, based on a modified couple stress theory. The governing equation of motion is introduced here, which is essentially nonlinear due to its midplane stretching effect and electrostatic force. Through quasi-static analysis, the equilibrium position, pull-in voltage and pull-in location of the system are obtained with differential quadrature method and finite element method. The equivalent geometric nonlinear parameter is presented to explain the influence of the scale effect on the pull-in location. Different from elastic material, there are two kinds of pull-in voltages called as instantaneous pull-in voltage and the durable pull-in voltage in viscoelastic system. Then, Galerkin discretization and the method of multiple scales are applied to determine the response and stability of the system for small vibration amplitude. A new perturbation method to deal with viscoelastic term is presented. Theoretical expressions about the parameter spaces of linear-like vibration, hardening-type vibration and softening-type vibration are then deduced. The influence of viscoelasticity and scale effect on nonlinear dynamic behavior is studied. Results show that the viscoelasticity can reduce the effective elastic modulus and make the system tend to softening-type vibration; the scale effect can increase effective elastic modulus and make the system tend to hardening-type vibration. And most of all, simulation results of case studies are used to realize parameter optimization. Then parameter conditions of linear-like vibration, which is desired for many applications, are obtained. In this paper, the results of multi-physical field coupling simulation are used to verify the theoretical analysis.     

Pull-in instability analyses for NEMS actuators with quartic shape approximation

The pull-in instability of a cantilever nano-actuator model incorporating the effects of the surface, the fringing field, and the Casimir attraction force is investigated. A new quartic polynomial is proposed as the shape function of the beam during the deflection, satisfying all of the four boundary values. The Gaussian quadrature rule is used to treat the involved integrations, and the design parameters are preserved in the evaluated formulas. The analytic expressions are derived for the tip deflection and pull-in parameters of the cantilever beam. The micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) cantilever actuators and freestanding nanoactuators are considered as two special cases. It is proved that the proposed method is convenient for the analyses of the effects of the surface, the Casimir force, and the fringing field on the pull-in parameters.     

Upper and lower bounds for the pull-in parameters of a micro- or nanocantilever on a flexible support

An analytical method is proposed to accurately estimate the pull-in parameters of a micro- or nanocantilever beam elastically constrained by a rotational spring at one end. The system is actuated by electrostatic force and subject to Casimir or van der Waals forces according to the beam size. The deflection of the beam is described by a fourth-order nonlinear boundary value problem, or equivalently in terms of a nonlinear integral equation. New a priori analytical estimates on the solution from both sides are first derived and then lower and upper bounds for the pull-in parameters are obtained, with no need of solving the nonlinear boundary value problem. The lower and upper bounds turn out to be very close each other and in excellent agreement with the numerical results provided by the shooting method. The approach also provides accurate predictions for the pull-in parameters of a freestanding nanoactuator.     

Design of nonlinear springs for attaining a linear response in gap-closing electrostatic actuators

Gap-closing electrostatic actuators are inherently nonlinear and their dynamic range is often limited by the pull-in instability. To overcome this, we propose a nonlinear spring that counteracts the nonlinear effects of electrostatic attraction. The nonlinear spring is designed to extend the stable range of the actuator and to enforce a linear electromechanical response. We present a method for designing elastic springs with monotonically increasing stiffness. The mechanism we propose is effective shortening of a straight clamed-guided beam flexure, by wrapping it over a cam. We consider two specific cases. The first case assumes the wrapped section of the beam flexure fully conforms to the cam shape. The second case assumes that there is a single contact point between the beam flexure and the cam. To validate the concept we have designed and measured the response of a nonlinear spring with a prescribed force–displacement law. Experimental measurements of a macro-scale spring are in good agreement with the model predictions.     

Dynamic instability of vibrating carbon nanotubes near small layers of graphite sheets based on nonlocal continuum elasticity

This article presents a new asymptotic method to predict dynamic pull-in instability of nonlocal clamped–clamped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) near graphite sheets. Nonlinear governing equations of carbon nanotubes actuated by an electric field are derived. With due allowance for the van der Waals effects, the pull-in instability and the natural frequency–amplitude relationship are investigated by a powerful analytical method, namely, the parameter expansion method. It is demonstrated that retaining two terms in series expansions is sufficient to produce an acceptable solution. The obtained results from numerical methods verify the strength of the analytical procedure. The qualitative analysis of system dynamics shows that the equilibrium points of the autonomous system include center points and unstable saddle points. The phase portraits of the carbon nanotube actuator exhibit periodic and homoclinic orbits.     

Nonlinear beam formulation incorporating surface energy and size effect: application in nano-bridges

A nonlinear beam formulation is presented based on the Gurtin-Murdoch surface elasticity and the modified couple stress theory. The developed model theoretically takes into account coupled effects of the energy of surface layer and microstructures sizedependency. The mid-plane stretching of a beam is incorporated using von-Karman nonlinear strains. Hamilton’s principle is used to determine the nonlinear governing equation of motion and the corresponding boundary conditions. As a case study, pull-in instability of an electromechanical nano-bridge structure is studied using the proposed formulation. The nonlinear governing equation is solved by the analytical reduced order method (ROM) as well as the numerical solution. Effects of various parameters including surface layer, size dependency, dispersion forces, and structural damping on the pullin parameters of the nano-bridges are discussed. Comparison of the results with the literature reveals capability of the present model in demonstrating the impact of nanoscale phenomena on the pull-in threshold of the nano-bridges.     

Sensitivity analysis of pull-in voltage for RF MEMS switch based on modified couple stress theory

An approximate analytical model for calculating the pull-in voltage of a stepped cantilever-type radio frequency(RF) micro electro-mechanical system(MEMS) switch is developed based on the Euler-Bernoulli beam and a modified couple stress theory, and is validated by comparison with the finite element results. The sensitivity functions of the pull-in voltage to the designed parameters are derived based on the proposed model. The sensitivity investigation shows that the pull-in voltage sensitivities increase/decrease nonlinearly with the increases in the designed parameters. For the stepped cantilever beam, there exists a nonzero optimal dimensionless length ratio, where the pull-in voltage is insensitive. The optimal value of the dimensionless length ratio only depends on the dimensionless width ratio, and can be obtained by solving a nonlinear equation. The determination of the designed parameters is discussed, and some recommendations are made for the RF MEMS switch optimization.     

Lyapunov exponents as a criterion for the dynamic pull-in instability of electrostatically actuated microstructures

The dynamic pull-in instability of double clamped microscale beams actuated by a suddenly applied distributed electrostatic force and subjected to non-linear squeeze film damping is investigated. A reduced order model is built using the Galerkin decomposition with undamped linear modes as base functions and verified through comparison with numerical finite differences solution. The stability analysis of a beam actuated by one and two electrodes symmetrically located at two sides of the beam and operated by a step-input voltage is performed by evaluating the largest Lyapunov exponent, the sign of which defines the character of the response. It is shown that this approach provides an efficient quantitative criterion for the evaluation of dynamic pull-in instability, especially when combined with compact reduced order models. Based on the Lyapunov exponent criterion, the influence of various parameters on the beam dynamic stability is investigated.     

Electrostatic pull-in instability for tweezer architectures

Meccanica - The work investigates the static pull-in instability of electrostatically actuated tweezers with tubular electrodes. At a critical voltage, named pull-in voltage, the attraction force...     

Frequency response of primary resonance of electrostatically actuated CNT cantilevers

This paper deals with electrostatically actuated carbon nanotube (CNT) cantilever over a parallel ground plate. Three forces act on the CNTs cantilever, namely electrostatic, van der Waals, and damping. The van der Waals force is significant for values of 50 nm or less of the gap between the CNT and the ground plate. As both forces electrostatic and van der Waals are nonlinear, and the CNTs electrostatic actuation is given by AC voltage, the CNT undergoes nonlinear parametric dynamics. The methods of multiple scales and reduced order model (ROM) are used to investigate the system under soft AC near half natural frequency of the CNT and weak nonlinearities. The frequency–amplitude response and damping, voltage, and van der Waals effects on the response are reported. It is showed that only five terms ROM predicts and accurately predicts the pull-in instability and the saddle-node bifurcation, respectively.