The dynamic behavior of MEMS arch resonators actuated electrically

In this paper, we investigate the dynamic behavior of clamped–clamped micromachined arches when actuated by a small DC electrostatic load superimposed to an AC harmonic load. A Galerkin-based reduced-order model is derived and utilized to simulate the static behavior and the eigenvalue problem under the DC load actuation. The natural frequencies and mode shapes of the arch are calculated for various values of DC voltages and initial rises. In addition, the dynamic behavior of the arch under the actuation of a DC load superimposed to an AC harmonic load is investigated. A perturbation method, the method of multiple scales, is used to obtain analytically the forced vibration response of the arch due to DC and small AC loads. Results of the perturbation method are compared with those obtained by numerically integrating the reduced-order model equations. The non-linear resonance frequency and the effective non-linearity of the arch are calculated as a function of the initial rise and the DC and AC loads. The results show locally softening-type behavior for the resonance frequency for all DC and AC loads as well as the initial rise of the arch.