CiteULike is a free online bibliography manager. Register and you can start organising your references online.

Pull-in and snap-through instabilities in transient deformations of microelectromechanical systems Export

Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 19, No. 3. (2009), 035008.

Citation Format

[Posts]

View FullText article


z3phyr's tags for this article

dynamics electrostatic-actuation mems pullin-voltage snap-through

X Reviews [Write a review of this article]

X Find related articles from these CiteULike users

X Find related articles with these CiteULike tags

X Posting History

X Abstract

We analyze transient finite electroelastodynamic deformations of a perfect electrically conducting undamped clamped-clamped beam, a clamped-clamped parabolic arch and a clamped-clamped bell-shaped arch suspended over a flat rigid semi-infinite perfect conductor. The pull-in instability in a beam and the pull-in and the snap-through instabilities in the two arches due to time-dependent potential difference between the two electrodes have been studied. The potential difference is applied either suddenly or is increased linearly in time. Since the time scale of the transient electric forces is very small as compared to that of the mechanical forces, inertia effects only in the mechanical deformations are considered. Effects of both material and geometric nonlinearities are incorporated in the problem formulation and solution; however, damping due to the interaction of the structure with the surrounding medium is neglected. The coupled nonlinear partial differential equations for mechanical deformations are solved numerically by the finite element method and those for the electrical problem by the boundary element method. The Coulomb pressure due to the potential difference between the two electrodes is a nonlinear function of the a priori unknown distance between them. The potential difference that induces either the pull-in instability in a beam or the snap-through followed by the pull-in instabilities in an arch has been computed. Wherever possible these results are compared with those available in the literature. With a decrease in the rate of the applied potential difference, the pull-in and the snap-through parameters approach those for a static problem. Also, for large rates of increase in the potential difference between the two electrodes, the snap-through instability in an arch is suppressed and only the pull-in instability occurs.


X BibTeX record

X RIS record


Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions
CiteULike organises scholarly (or academic) papers or literature and provides bibliographic (which means it makes bibliographies) for universities and higher education establishments. It helps undergraduates and postgraduates. People studying for PhDs or in postdoctoral (postdoc) positions. The service is similar in scope to EndNote or RefWorks or any other reference manager like BibTeX, but it is a social bookmarking service for scientists and humanities researchers.