Energy-efficient full-range oscillation analysis of parallel-plate electrostatically actuated MEMS resonators

Nonlinear Dynamics - This paper aims to report a novel route to chaotic bursting, i.e., the route via bifurcation delay and chaos crisis, based on the parametrically driven Lorenz system. A...     

Pull-in voltage analysis of electrostatically actuated MEMS with piezoelectric layers: A size-dependent model

A size-dependent model for electrostatically actuated microbeam-based MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) with piezoelectric layers attached is developed based on a modified couple stress theory. By using Hamilton's principle, the nonlinear differential governing equation and boundary conditions of the MEM structure are derived. In the newly developed model, the residual stresses, fringing-field and axial stress effects are considered for the fixed–fixed microbeam with piezoelectric layers. The results of the present model are compared with those from the classical model. The results show the size effect becomes prominent if the beam dimension is comparable to the material length scale parameter (MLSP). The effects of MLSP, the residual stresses and axial stress on the pull-in voltage are also studied. The study may be helpful to characterize the mechanical and electrostatic properties of small size MEMS, or guide the design of microbeam-based devices for a wide range of potential applications.     

Size effect on the static behavior of electrostatically actuated microbeams

We present a new analytical model for electrostatically actuated microbeams to explore the size effect by using the modified couple stress theory and the minimum total potential energy principle. A material length scale parameter is introduced to represent the size-dependent characteristics of microbeams. This model also accounts for the nonlinearities associated with the mid-plane stretching force and the electrostatical force. Numerical analysis for microbeams with clamped-clamped and cantilevered conditions has been performed. It is found that the intensity of size effect is closely associated with the thickness of the microbeam,and smaller beam thickness displays stronger size effect and hence yields smaller deffection and larger pull-in voltage. When the beam thickness is comparable to the material length scale parameter,the size effect is significant and the present theoretical model including the material length scale parameter is adequate for predicting the static behavior of microbeam-based MEMS.     

An electrostatically actuated microsensor for determination of micropolar fluid physical properties

Meccanica - Micropolar fluids as complex non-Newtonian fluids admittedly have numerous applications in various fields, especially in medicine. Blood as a micropolar fluid plays an important role in...     

Axial control for nonlinear resonances of electrostatically actuated nanobeam with graphene sensor

The nonlinear resonance response of an electrostatically actuated nanobeam is studied over the near-half natural frequency with an axial capacitor controller. A graphene sensor deformed by the vibrations of the nanobeam is used to produce the voltage signal.The voltage of the vibration graphene sensor is used as a control signal input to a closedloop circuit to mitigate the nonlinear vibration of the nanobeam. An axial control force produced by the axial capacitor controller can transform the frequency-amplitude curves from nonlinear to linear. The necessary and sufficient conditions for guaranteeing the system stability and a saddle-node bifurcation are studied. The numerical simulations are conducted for uniform nanobeams. The nonlinear terms of the vibration system can be transformed into linear ones by applying the critical control voltage to the system. The nonlinear vibration phenomena can be avoided, and the vibration amplitude is mitigated evidently with the axial capacitor controller.     

Size-dependent dynamic pull-in instability of hydrostatically and electrostatically actuated circular microplates

In the present study, the dynamic pull-in instability and free vibration of circular microplates subjected to combined hydrostatic and electrostatic forces are investigated. To take size effects into account, the strain gradient elasticity theory is incorporated into the Kirchhoff plate theory to develop a nonclassical plate model including three internal material length scale parameters. By using Hamilton’s principle, the higher-order governing equation and the corresponding boundary conditions are obtained. Afterward, a generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) method is employed to discritize the governing differential equations along with simply supported and clamped edge supports. To evaluate the pull-in voltage and vibration frequencies of actuated microplates, the hydrostatic-electrostatic actuation is assumed to be calculated by neglecting the fringing field effects and utilizing the parallel plate approximation. Also, a comparison between the pull-in voltages predicted by the strain gradient theory and the degenerated ones is presented. It is revealed that increasing the dimensionless internal length scale parameter or decreasing the applied hydrostatic pressures leads to higher values of the pull-in voltage. Moreover, it is found that the value of pull-in hydrostatic pressure decreases corresponding to higher dimensionless internal length scale parameters and applied voltages.     

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.     

Application of piezoelectric actuation to regularize the chaotic response of an electrostatically actuated micro-beam

The impetus of this study is to investigate the nonlinear chaotic dynamics of a clamped–clamped micro-beam exposed to simultaneous electrostatic and piezoelectric actuation. The micro-beam is sandwiched with piezoelectric layers throughout its length. The combined DC and AC electrostatic actuation is imposed on the micro-beam through two upper and lower electrodes. The piezoelectric layers are actuated via a DC electric voltage applied in the direction of the height of the piezoelectric layers, which produces an axial force proportional to the applied DC voltage. The governing differential equation of the motion is derived using Hamiltonian principle and discretized to a nonlinear Duffing type ODE using Galerkin method. The governing ODE is numerically integrated to get the response of the system in terms of the governing parameters. The results show that the response of the system is greatly affected by the amounts of DC and AC electrostatic voltages applied to the upper and lower electrodes. The results show that the response of the system can be highly nonlinear and in some regions chaotic. Evaluating the K–S entropy of the system, based on several initial conditions given to the system, the chaotic response is distinguished from the periodic or quasiperiodic ones. The main objective is to passively control the chaotic response by applying an appropriate DC voltage to the piezoelectric layers.     

Bifurcation and pull-in voltages of primary resonance of electrostatically actuated SWCNT cantilevers to include van der Waals effect

In this work the voltage response of primary resonance of electrostatically actuated single wall carbon nano tubes (SWCNT) cantilevers over a parallel ground plate is investigated. Three forces act on the SWCNT cantilever, namely electrostatic, van der Waals and damping. While the damping is linear, the electrostatic and van der Waals forces are nonlinear. Moreover, the electrostatic force is also parametric since it is given by AC voltage. Under these forces the dynamics of the SWCNT is nonlinear parametric. The van der Waals force is significant for values less than 50 nm of the gap between the SWCNT and the ground substrate. Reduced order model method (ROM) is used to investigate the system under soft excitation and weak nonlinearities. The voltage-amplitude response and influences of parameters are reported for primary resonance (AC near half natural frequency).     

Application of the NSCD method to analyse the dynamic behaviour of stone arched structures

In this paper, a masonry arch is simulated in order to assess both its structural and seismic vulnerability. The non-smooth contact dynamics (NSCD) computational method is used to simulate this type of structure as a collection of bodies under the hypothesis of unilateral constraints and frictional contact, with or without cohesion. Sinusoidal oscillations in three dimensions and real earthquake data have been applied to the supporting base element of the arch model.The primary aim of this study is to better understand the dynamic behaviour of the masonry arch, a typical component of historic unreinforced masonry (URM) structures. This study also assesses the influences of the input parameters on the mechanical and dynamic behaviour of the arch structure. Its collapse mechanism is studied for both cohesive and non-cohesive contact.In addition, we examine the behaviour under seismic loading of the Arles aqueduct, a real historical arched structure located in the south-east of France. Significant information can be obtained from the comparison of the results of advanced numerical analysis, taking into account the precise geometry of the model, the mechanical characteristics of the materials and the observation of the in situ monuments after their collapse.     

High-order shear theory for static analysis of functionally graded plates with porosities

The bending responses of porous functionally graded (FG) thick rectangular plates are investigated according to a high-order shear deformation theory. Both the effect of shear strain and normal deformation are included in the present theory and so it does not need any shear correction factor. The equilibrium equations according to the porous FG plates are derived. The solution to the problem is derived by using Navier's technique. Numerical results have been reported and compared with those available in the open literature for non-porous plates. The effects of the exponent graded and porosity factors are investigated.     

A field method and its application to the theory of vibrations

The problem of integration of the differential equations of motion of a nonconservative dynamical system is replaced by an equivalent problem of finding a complete integral of a quasi-linear partial differential equation of the first order. In the second part, these complete integrals are combined with the two time scales perturbation method in the study of non-linear oscillatory motions.     

辛奇异元方法与含裂纹结构加固问题分析

本文借助于辛体系本征解展开原理和辛共轭正交关系,提出一种辛奇异元模型.并结合有限元软件形成一种新的数值方法和对含裂纹结构分析思路.其最大优势在于:直接给出裂纹的应力强度因子;不受单元网格密度的局限;不受路径的影响.利用该奇异元对含裂纹结构加固问题进行分析,发现了一些特殊的规律.为含裂纹结构加固技术提供依据.     

Three-dimensional analog of the Sokhotsky-Plemelj formulas and its application in the wing theory

A solution of a hydrodynamic problem of motion of an ideal incompressible fluid in a finite-thickness vortex layer is obtained. In the limiting case (infinitely thin layer), this layer transforms to a vortex surface. Formulas are derived for limiting values of the velocity vector of the fluid approaching this surface; these formulas extend the Sokhotsky-Plemelj formulas for a singular integral of the Cauchy type to a three-dimensional space. Three integral equations are derived on the basis of these formulas and the proposed method of modeling a finite-thickness wing by a closed vortex surface. It is shown that only one equation is left in the case of an infinitely thin wing, which corresponds to the condition of fluid non-penetration through the wing surface.     

Lower bound for LCF lifetime and its application to safe design of elastic viscoplastic structures

The theory of shakedown is applied to obtain an upper estimation of LCF lifetime of structures. A model of elastic viscoplastic material similar to the Perzyna one with isotropic strain hardening and isotropic damage is adopted. Assumptions: viscoplastic strain rate is proportional to the access of the yield function over zero; the rate of damage evolution is equal to a function of hardening and damage parameters with the coefficient of fluidity, as a factor of proportionality; damage process is coupled with the viscoplastic deformation process; the hardening parameter is equal to accumulated viscoplastic deformation. The yield surfaces form a family of self-similar surfaces with the diameter as the parameter. The shakedown condition of the Melan type is formulated relatively to the initial yield surface. Features of the stress path lead to an equation with min–max problem of the mathematical programming in the left side, which determines a safe value of the virtual residual stress. The equation provides an opportunity to compute the maximal value of the strain hardening parameter possible under the prescribed loading program. This value allows to obtain an upper estimate to safe work time of the structure, which results in a sufficient condition of the structure integrity during the prescribed time period. An example of the developed theory application to resolve various problems arising from designing of structures is considered.     

On the reliability theory of the structures

Summary The researches into the reliability theory of the structures, in hypothesis of elasto-plastic material, compels one to determine the probability function of structural resistance. As it is very difficult to find this function exactly, various authors approximate its values following different methods.The paper starts from the comparison among these ways and proposes as more efficient a simulation method based on parametric linear programming. To the latter it gives an appropriate physical interpretation that allows one to be able to control the computational process.

---

Sommario Le difficoltà di determinare la distribuzione di probabilità della resistenza di strutture elasto-plastiche (costruite con materiale a resistenza aleatoria) hanno spinto molti autori a mettere a punto metodi approssimati. Partendo da un esame comparativo si propone, in questa sede, una tecnica di simulazione, che sembra dotata di particolare efficienza computazionale, basata sulla programmazione lineare parametrica. Di essa viene data anche una interpretazione fisica che consente di controllare il processo di calcolo.

---

---

Research conducted under a grant of C.N.R. and accepted by the 15th Polish Solid Mechanics Conference. Zakopane, September 1973.