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Coupled Systems Mechanics Volume 4, Number 3, September 2015, pages 251-262 DOI: https://doi.org/10.12989/csm.2015.4.3.251 |
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 open accessDynamical behaviour of electrically actuated microcantilevers |
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Hamed Farokhi and Mergen H. Ghayesh
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| Abstract | ||
| The current paper aims at investigating the nonlinear dynamical behaviour of an electrically actuated microcantilever. The microcantilever is excited by a combination of AC and DC voltages. The nonlinear equation of motion of the microcantilever is obtained by means of force and moment balances. A high-dimensional Galerkin scheme is then applied to reduce the equation of motion to a discrete model. A numerical technique, based on the pseudo-arclength continuation method, is used to solve the discretized model. The electrostatic deflection of the microcantilever and static pull-in instabilities, due to the DC voltage, are analyzed by plotting the so-called DC voltage-deflection curves. At the simultaneous presence of the DC and AC voltages, the nonlinear dynamical behaviour of the microcantilever is analyzed by plotting frequency-response and force-response curves. | ||
| Key Words | ||
| microcantilevers; electrically actuated; pull-in instability; dynamical behaviour | ||
| Address | ||
| Hamed Farokhi: Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 0C3 Mergen H. Ghayesh:School of Mechanical, Materials and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia | ||
