Size-dependent dynamic analysis of rectangular nanoplates in the presence of electrostatic,Casimir and thermal forces

In the present study by considering the small-scale effects, the dynamic instability of fully clamped and simply supported nanoplates is studied in the attendance of electrostatic, Casimir as well as thermal forces. To this end, by applying the nonlocal elasticity theory of Eringen along with the classical plate theory, the dynamic equilibrium equation of nanoplates is obtained by incorporating the in-plane thermal and transverse intermolecular distributed loads. The solution of the obtained nonlinear governing equation is done using the Galerkin method and the dynamic pull-in instability voltage of the nanoplates is compared with the available experimental results. Finally, the simultaneous effects of thermal force as well as nonlocal parameter on the dynamic response of nanoplates are examined in the presence of Casimir force in detail.     

Thermal and surface effects on the pull-in characteristics of circular nanoplate NEMS actuator based on nonlocal elasticity theory

This paper aims to investigate the coupling influences of thermal loading and surface effects on pull-in instability of electrically actuated circular nanoplate based on Eringen's nonlocal elasticity theory, where the electrostatic force and thermally corrected Casimir force are considered. By utilizing the Kirchhoff plate theory, the nonlinear equilibrium equation of axisymmetric circular nanoplate with variable coefficients and clamped boundary conditions is derived and analytically solved. The results describe the influences of surface effect and thermal loading on pull-in displacements and pull-in voltages of nanoplate under thermal corrected Casimir force. It is seen that the surface effect becomes significant at the pull-in state with the decrease of nanoplate thicknesses, and the residual surface tension exerts a greater influence on the pull-in behavior compared to the surface elastic modulus. In addition, it is found that temperature change plays a great role in the pull-in phenomenon; when the temperature change grows, the circular nanoplate without applied voltage is also led to collapse.     

Size effect on pull-in behavior of electrostatically actuated microbeams based on a modified couple stress theory

A variety of micro-scale experiments have demonstrated that the mechanical property of some metals and polymers on the order of micron scale are size dependence. Taking into account the size effect on the mechanical property of materials and the inherent nonlinear property of electrostatic force, the static pull-in behavior of an electrostatically actuated Bernoulli–Euler microbeam is analyzed on the basis of a modified couple stress theory. The approximate analytical solutions to the pull-in voltage and pull-in displacement of the microbeam are derived by using the Rayleigh–Ritz method. The results show that the normalized pull-in voltage of the microbeam increases by a factor of 3.1 as the microbeam thickness equals to the material length scale parameter and exhibits size effect remarkably. However, the size effect on the pull-in voltage is almost diminishing as the microbeam thickness is far greater than the material length scale parameter. The normalized pull-in displacement of the microbeam exhibits size independence and equals to 0.448 and 0.398 for the cantilever beam and clamped–clamped beam, respectively.     

Bending and vibration of an electrostatically actuated circular microplate in presence of Casimir force

The pull-in instability and the vibration for a prestressed circular electrostatically actuated microplate are investigated in consideration of the Casimir force. Based on von Kármán’s nonlinear bending theory of thin plates, the governing equations for the whole analysis are decomposed into two two-point boundary value problems. For static deformation of the plate, the geometric nonlinearity is involved and the pull-in parameters are obtained by using the shooting method through taking the applied voltage or Casimir parameter as an unknown. This algorithm is also used to study the small amplitude free vibration about the predeformed bending configuration following an assumed harmonic time mode, and the variation of the prestress and Casimir parameters dependent fundamental natural frequency with the applied voltage is presented. Several case studies are compared with available published simulations to confirm the proposed method. The influences of various parameters, such as the initial gap-thickness ratio, Casimir effect, prestress on the pull-in instability behavior and the natural frequency are examined.     

Analytical bounds for the electromechanical buckling of a compressed nanocantilever

An analytical approach is presented for the accurate definition of lower and upper bounds for the pull-in voltage and tip displacement of a micro- or nanocantilever beam subject to compressive axial load, electrostatic actuation and intermolecular surface forces. The problem is formulated as a nonlinear two-point boundary value problem and has been transformed into an equivalent nonlinear integral equation. Initially, new analytical estimates are found for the beam deflection, which are then employed for assessing novel and accurate bounds from both sides for the pull-in parameters, taking into account for the effects of the compressive axial load. The analytical predictions are found to closely agree with the numerical results provided by the shooting method. The effects of surface elasticity and residual stresses, which are of significant importance when the physical dimensions of structures descend to nanosize, are also included in the proposed approach.     

Adomian decomposition method used for solving nonlinear pull-in behavior in electrostatic micro-actuators

Nonlinear pull-in behavior for different electrostatic micro-actuators were simulated in this study. The Adomian decomposition method was employed to overcome the difficulty in the nonlinear equation of motion. Because no iteration is required in solving the nonlinear deformation, the decomposition method is one of the most efficient methods for evaluating the unstable pull-in behavior of an electrostatic micro-actuator. To investigate the feasibility of applying the Adomian decomposition method in dealing with the nonlinear deflection equation in the micro-actuator problem, different types of micro-actuators, e.g., fixed-fixed beam actuator and cantilever beam actuator were studied and analyzed. The calculated results agreed well with those from the literature.     

Dynamic characteristic analysis of an electrostatically-actuated circular nanoplate subject to surface effects

This study investigates the influence of surface effect on the nonlinear behavior of an electrostatically actuated circular nanoplate. The Casimir force, surface effects, and the electrostatic force are modelled. In performing the analysis, the nonlinear governing equation of a circular nanoplate is solved using a hybrid computational scheme combining a differential transformation and finite differences. The method is used to model systems found in previous literature using different methods, producing consistent results, thus verifying that it is suitable for treatment of the nonlinear electrostatic coupling phenomenon. The obtained results from numerical methods demonstrated that the relationship between the thickness, radius, and gap size of a circular nanoplate, and its pull-in voltage, is scale-dependent. The model exhibits size-dependent behavior, showing that surface effects significantly influence the dynamic response of circular nanoplate actuators. Moreover, the influence of surface stress on the pull-in voltage of circular nanoplate is found to be more significant than the influence of surface elastic modulus. Finally, the effects of actuation voltage, excitation frequency, and surface effects on the dynamic behavior of the nanoplate are examined through use of phase portraits. Overall, the results show that the using hybrid method here presented is a suitable technique for analyzing nonlinear behavior characteristic of circular nanoplates.     

Static and dynamic stability modeling of a capacitive FGM micro-beam in presence of temperature changes

Stability of a functionally graded (FG) micro-beam, based on modified couple stress theory (MCST), subjected to nonlinear electrostatic pressure and thermal changes regarding convection and radiation, is the main purpose of this paper. It is assumed that the functionally graded beam, made of metal and ceramic, follows the volume fraction definition and law of mixtures, and its properties change as an exponential function through its thickness. By changing the ceramic constituent percent of the bottom surface, five different types of the micro-beams are investigated. The static pull-in voltages in presence of temperature changes are obtained by using step-by-step linearization method (SSLM) and, by adapting Runge–Kutta approach, the dynamic pull-in voltages are obtained numerically. Though the temperature distribution through the thickness of FG micro-beam (due to its too small measurement) is considered uniform, owing to the different thermal expansions of layers, temperature changes cause deflection in the micro-beam, and consequently affect pull-in values. Hence the profound effects of different material constituent over the pull-in voltages are illustrated and it is graphically displayed that how in some cases neglecting components of the couple stress leads to inaccurate results.     

A hybrid solution for analyzing nonlinear dynamics of electrostatically-actuated microcantilevers

This paper introduces a closed-form approximation of dynamic response of microcantilevers. The applied load on the system was linearized by Taylor series expansion and to obtain approximate solutions, model of a pure odd-order nonlinear oscillator, subjected to constant excitation was assumed. Pull-in voltage was investigated to analyze the different parameters of the examined microbeam. In order to obtain a comprehensive dynamic model for MEMS devices, before, during and after switching, the pure odd-order nonlinear model was combined with a distributed parameter system and solved after reaching the pull-in voltage. The obtained results demonstrate correct prediction of the static pull-in voltage and also the dynamic deflection of microbeams. By using the same approach, the sensitivity of the pull-in voltage to various geometrical parameters was also investigated. The obtained results indicate that excessive increase in the air gap causes substantial increase in the pull-in voltage; while increasing thickness of microcantilever has even greater effect. It was also observed that for a given thickness of microcantilever, increasing its length beyond a certain amount has no effect on the pull-in voltage.     

Nonlinear time domain and stability analysis of beams under partially distributed follower force

This paper aims to investigate linear and nonlinear behavior of beams subjected to externally applied partially distributed follower forces. In this investigation, the nonlinear composite beam theory of Hodges is used. The system of nonlinear equations is linearized about the equilibrium, or rest structure state, and the linear system is solved numerically. The effects of follower force position on the behavior of eigenvalues at pre- and post-instability are reported. Additionally, the contours of critical follower force are obtained by changing the position of follower force in span-wise and chord-wise directions. The effects of different parameters such as the length, and position of follower force and the ratios of stiffnesses on the critical follower force as well as the nonlinear limit cycle oscillation (LCO) are reported. The obtained results indicate that the length and the position of the partially distributed follower forces considerably affect the stability of the beam.     

Singular Points in Electromechanical Systems and Their Determination

An approach to determine turning points in electromechanical systems is presented and applied to the determination of pull-in parameters. The pull-in phenomenon is an inherent instability in devices using electrostatic actuation where an electrostatic force works against an elastic restoring force. The paper presents a relation between multi-valued characteristics describing MEMS devices and weakly singular tracking problems. The technique of augmented systems that characterize turning points is applied to the analytical and numerical determination of pull-in parameters. The method is discussed using a computer algebra system and a VHDL-AMS simulation engine.     

Stability analysis of cantilever carbon nanotubes subjected to partially distributed tangential force and viscoelastic foundation

Dynamic instability of cantilever carbon nanotubes conveying fluid embedded in viscoelastic foundation under a partially distributed tangential force is investigated based on nonlocal elasticity theory and Euler–Bernouli beam theory. The present study has incorporated the effects of nonlocal parameter, Knudsen number, surface effects and magnetic field. And two main parameters have also considered, namely partially distributed tangential force and foundation. It is assumed that viscoelastic foundation has modeled as Kelvin–Voigt, Maxwell and Standard linear solid types. The size-dependent governing equation of transverse vibration is derived using Hamilton’s variational principle and discretized by the Galerkin truncation method. A detailed parameter study is carried out, indicating the stability behavior of the nanotubes. In the light of numerical results, it is shown that variables considered in nondimensional equations have significant effects on natural frequencies and flutter velocities, especially for the foundation distribution length and model as well as the partially distributed tangential force.     

The natural oscillations of distributed inhomogeneous systems described by generalized boundary value problems

The problem of the constructive determination of the natural frequencies and modes of oscillations of distributed systems with substantially varying parameters is investigated. Unlike the classical case, the self-adjoint boundary-value problem allows of an arbitrary non-linear dependence of the coefficients of the equation on a numerical parameter, the eigenvalues of which are required to be obtained. An original numerical-analytic method is developed for a highly accurate construction of the desired solution. The computational efficiency of the algorithm, which possesses the property of accelerated (quadratic) convergence, is illustrated by the calculation of model examples. The approach can be extended to other classes of generalized problems of determining the critical values of the parameters and the forms corresponding to them, in particular, to the problem of the loss of stability of elastic systems with variable stiffnesses and inertial and force characteristics. A highly accurate solution of the classical Prandtl problem of determining the critical force which leads to lateral buckling of a long homogeneous cantilever beam is constructed, taking its weight into account.     

Pull-in instability and free vibration of electrically actuated poly-SiGe graded micro-beams with a curved ground electrode

This paper investigates the pull-in instability and free vibration of functionally graded poly-SiGe micro-beams under combined electrostatic force, intermolecular force and axial residual stress, with an emphasis on the effects of ground electrode shape, position-dependent material composition, and geometrically nonlinear deformation of the micro-beam. The differential quadrature (DQ) method is employed to solve the nonlinear differential governing equations to obtain the pull-in voltage and vibration frequencies of the clamped poly-SiGe micro-beams. The present analysis is validated through direct comparisons with published experimental results and excellent agreement has been achieved. A parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of material composition, ground electrode shape, axial residual stress and geometrical nonlinearity on the pull-in voltage and frequency characteristics.     

Anharmonic vibrations of a nano-sized oscillator with fractional damping

We investigate the nonlinear vibrations of nano-sized cantilever. The elastic force is considered anharmonic, deriving from a Morse potential and the nonlinearity is attributed to the Casimir force. We consider two cases, the first of viscous damping and the second of fractional damping.The solution is also established by using the Adomian decomposition method.     

Vibrational analysis of electrostatically actuated microstructures considering nonlinear effects

The vibrational behavior of electrostatically actuated microstructures subjected to nonlinear squeeze film damping and in-plane forces is investigated. First-Order Shear Deformation Theory is used to model dynamical system by means of finite element method, while finite difference method is applied to solve the nonlinear Reynolds equation of squeeze film damping simultaneously. Vibrational analysis of microplates is performed by solving eigenvalue problem, after validating the model by pull-in phenomenon and transient behavior. In addition, considering nonlinear squeeze film damping and step-input actuations, response frequencies of microplates are calculated. Effect of ambient pressure and in-plane forces on dynamic pull-in phenomenon is also studied. Results for simplified models are verified and are in good agreement with the published literature. This investigation can reveal nonlinear vibrational behavior of microstructures.     

Comparison of generalized differential quadrature and Galerkin methods for the analysis of micro-electro-mechanical coupled systems

This paper presents a comprehensive comparison study between the generalized differential quadrature (GDQ) and the well-known global Galerkin method for analysis of pull-in behavior of nonlinear micro-electro-mechanical coupled systems. The nonlinear governing integro-differential equation for double clamped MEMS devices which was derived using variational principle by the authors [Sadeghian H, Rezazadeh G, Osterberg PM. Application of the generalized differential quadrature method to the study of pull-in phenomena of MEMS switches. J Microelectromech Syst 2007;16(6):1334–40] is discretized by applying Galerkin and GDQ methods. The divergence instability or pull-in phenomenon is analyzed. Obtained results are compared with the results of the pervious works. The Galerkin method is implemented with effect of number of used shape functions. Different types of trail functions on calculated pull-in voltage are examined.Furthermore, compare to one term and two terms truncation Galerkin method, it is observed that the GDQ with small number of grid points (non-uniform) performs accurate results for nonlinear micro-electro-mechanical coupled behavior which requires a large number of grid points at high-order approximation.     

电场作用下压电层合梁的分析

利用压电介质的二维本构关系,推导出带有上、下压电激励器的弹性梁在电场作用下的位移,应力分布的解析表达式,得到了压电激励器对弹性梁的等效作用力,最后给出了带有上,下压电激励的弹性梁在一端固支或两端简支边界条件下的算例。     

Nonlinear modeling and analysis of electrically actuated viscoelastic microbeams based on the modified couple stress theory

A nonclassical nonlinear continuum model of electrically actuated viscoelastic microbeams is presented based on the modified couple stress theory to consider the microstructure effect in the framework of viscoelasticity. The nonlinear integral-differential governing equation and related boundary conditions of are derived based on the extended Hamilton's principle and Euler–Bernoulli hypothesis for viscoelastic microbeams with clamped-free, clamped-clamped, simply-supported boundary conditions. The proposed model accounts for system nonlinearities including the axial residual stress, geometric nonlinearity due to midplane stretching, electrical forcing with fringing effect. The behavior of the microbeam is simulated using generalized Maxwell viscoelastic model. A new generalized differential/integral quadrature method is developed to solve the resulting governing equation. The developed model is verified against elastic behavior and a favorable agreement is obtained. Efficiency of the developed model is demonstrated by analyzing the quasistatic pull-in phenomena of electrically actuated viscoelastic microbeams with different boundaries at various material length scale parameters and axial residual stresses in the framework of linear viscoelasticity.     

Nonlinear behavior for nanoscale electrostatic actuators with Casimir force

The influence of Casimir force on the nonlinear behavior of nanoscale electrostatic actuators is studied in this paper. A one degree of freedom mass-spring model is adopted and the bifurcation properties of the actuators are obtained. With the change of the geometrical dimensions, the number of equilibrium point varies from zero to two. Stability analysis shows that one equilibrium point is Hopf point and the other is unstable saddle point when there are two equilibrium points. We also obtain the phase portraits, in which the periodic orbits exist around the Hopf point, and a homoclinic orbit passes through the unstable saddle point.