Vibrational Response of Initially Deformed Bistable Microbeams Under the Combined Effect of Mechanical Shock Loads and Electrostatic Forces

Abstract

This paper focuses on the influence of sudden drop tests on the nonlinear structural behavior of electrically actuated bi-table shallow microelectromechanical system (MEMS) arches. The assumed structure consists of an initially bell-shaped doubly clamped microbeam with a rectangular cross section. The Euler–Bernoulli beam theory is assumed to model the nonlinear structural behavior of the bistable system under the combined effect of both the direct current (DC) actuating load and the shaking waves. Moreover, the structural model takes into account both geometric midplane stretching and electric actuation nonlinear terms. A multimode Galerkin-based decomposition is used to discretize the beam equations to extract a reduced-order model (ROM). The convergence of the ROM simulations are first verified and furthermore compared to published experimental data. A thorough ROM parametric study showed that the effect of increasing the shallow arch initial rise alter drastically the system behavior from undergoing a uninterrupted snap-through motion to a sudden snap-through instability. Moreover, the arch rise relationship with its shock spectrum response (SSR) is investigated and it was concluded that as increasing the rise value can cause the system to collapse under the combined DC and shock wave loadings if the shock wave duration is lower or near the system fundamental natural period. All the presented graphs in this investigation represent some robust numerical approaches and design tools to help MEMS designers in improving both the reliability and efficiency of these bistable-based microdevices under shaking dynamic environments.