International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106

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International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/nlm

Non-linear dynamic instability of a double-sided nano-bridge

considering centrifugal force and rarefied gas flow
Hamid M. Sedighi a,n, A. Koochi b, Farhang Daneshmand c,d, M. Abadyan b
a
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Shahid Chamran University, Ahvaz 61357-43337, Iran
b
Shahrekord Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shahrekord, Iran
c
Department of Mechanical Engineering, McGill University, 817 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 2K6
d
School of Mechanical Engineering, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

art ic l e i nf o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Double-sided electromechanical nano-bridges can potentially be used as angular speed sensors and
Received 18 March 2015 accelerometers in rotary systems such as turbine blades and vacuum pumps. In such applications, the
Received in revised form influences of the centrifugal force and rarefied flow should be considered in the analysis. In the present
28 July 2015
study, the non-linear dynamic pull-in instability of a double-sided nano-bridge is investigated
Accepted 3 August 2015
Available online 12 August 2015
incorporating the effects of angular velocity and rarefied gas damping. The non-linear governing
equation of the nanostructure is derived using Euler-beam model and Hamilton's principle including the
Keywords: dispersion forces. The strain gradient elasticity theory is used for modeling the size-dependent behavior
Nano-bridge of the system. The reduced order method is also implemented to discretize and solve the partial
Centrifugal force
differential equation of motion. The influences of damping, centrifugal force, length scale parameters,
Rarefied flow
van der Waals force and Casimir attraction on the dynamic pull-in voltage are studied. It is found that
Dynamic pull-in instability
Strain gradient theory the dispersion and centrifugal forces decrease the pull-in voltage of a nano-bridge. Dynamic response of
Dispersion forces the nano-bridge is investigated by plotting time history and phase portrait of the system. The validity of
the proposed method is confirmed by comparing the results from the present study with the
experimental and numerical results reported in the literature.
& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction researchers [5–10]. Ouakad et al. studied the stability and

In recent decades, ultra-small beam-type structures have found
extensive applications in the fabrication of micro/nano-electro-
mechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) [1–3] and many researchers
have focused on theoretical investigation of the electromechanicl
performance of such systems. Among developed NEMS, the
double-sided actuating nano-bridges are the most promising
elements in constructing speed sensors [4] and new acceler-
ometers in rotary systems such as vacuum pumps and turbine
blades. A double-sided actuated nano-bridge shown in Fig. 1 is
constructed from a double-clamped movable beam suspended
between two fixed electrodes (grounded). Applying voltage
between the electrodes leads to deformation of the movable beam
towards the fixed electrode. When the electrostatic force exceeds
the elastic resistance of the beam, the instability occurs and the
movable electrode suddenly adheres to the ground. The stability of
micro/nano-bridge has been theoretically investigated by many
n
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: hmsedighi@gmail.com, h.msedighi@scu.ac.ir (H.M. Sedighi),
a.koochi@gmail.com (A. Koochi), farhang.daneshmand@mcgill.ca (F. Daneshmand),
Abadyan@yahoo.com (M. Abadyan).
dynamics of doubly-clamped micro-scale structures such as
micromachined arches resonators [11–13] and carbon nanotubes
(CNTs) [14,15] under DC and AC actuations.
When the distance between electrodes in micro/nanoelectro-
mechanical system becomes of the order of a few microns to
nanometer, the van der Waals (vdW) and Casimir forces originated
from quantum mechanics, should be taken into consideration [16].
Many researchers investigated the dynamics and stability analysis
of micro-scale systems in the absence [17,18] and presence [19,20]
of such dispersion forces. The influence of van der Waals (vdW)
and Casimir forces on the stability of the electrostatic torsional
NEMS has been studied by Guo and Zhao [21]. They demonstrated
that in the absence of any actuation, when the gap is sufficiently
small, pull-in can still take place because of the action of vdW and
Casimir torques. Lin and Zhao [22] presented the analytical
expression of the critical pull-in gap with Casimir force using the
perturbation theory and showed that the detachment length of
the mentioned NEMS increases by increasing thickness of the
nano-beam. Sedighi et al. [23] investigated the dynamic instability
of functionally graded (FG) nano-bridges considering Casimir
attraction and asymptotically obtained the expression for the
fundamental frequency of the system using Parameter Expansion

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnonlinmec.2015.08.002
0020-7462/& 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of double-sided actuated nano-bridge mounting on a rotating shaft under the influence of dispersion and centrifugal forces.
Method (PEM). In another research [24], they presented the
modified model for instability analysis of symmetric FGM NEMS
and developed a new formulation for Casimir and electrostatic
forces to incorporate the impact of finite conductivity of such
composite materials.
The nano-bridge accelerometers can be employed as angular
speed sensors in fault detection of rotating element bearings with
the expected goal to reduce downtime of machines, shaft crack
detection of power plant rotating equipments, measurement of
high-speed spindle errors in CNC and condition monitoring of
electric motors. For these applications, the presence of centrifugal
force and rarefied flow should be considered in the analysis. The
centrifugal force plays an important role in the mechanical
performance of rotary systems [25]. When the nano-bridge sensor
is mounted on the rotating shaft, the centrifugal forces change the
deflection of the movable electrode. This can significantly affect
the pull-in behavior of the nano-bridge and makes the system
sensitive to the angular speed of such rotary machines.
In many rotary systems such as gas centrifuge and vacuum
rotary pumps, the presence of rarefied gas flow damps the kinetic
energy of the movable elements. It is well-known that the
prediction and modeling of gas forces on NEMS accelerometers
is crucial for reliable design of such structures surrounded by the
low pressure gas flows. Chaterjee and Pohit [26] presented the gas
damping characteristics of electrostatically actuated microcantile-
vers in different ambient pressure. McCarthy et al. [27] modeled a
cantilever switch considering the effect of gas pressure distribu-
tion. Krylov and Maimon [28] assumed the flow in the gap to be
incompressible and studied the damped transient characteristics
of a cantilever coupled to a plate at the free end. Guo and
Alexeenko [29] proposed a new compact model of squeeze-film
damping based on the numerical solution of the Boltzmann kinetic
equation. Squeeze-film effects of perforated plates for small
amplitude vibration through modified Reynolds equation (MRE)
have been analyzed by Feng et al. [30]. They found that including
the air compressibility is necessary for high operating frequency
and small ratio of the plate width to the attenuation length.
The instability analysis of nano-structures on the basis of strain
gradient theory can be found in the literature [31–34]. In the
present study, the non-linear dynamic pull-in instability of a
double-sided nano-bridge as an angular speed sensor is investi-
gated. The effects of centrifugal force and rarefied flow are
included in the governing equation of motion. Two fundamental
contributions of this work are the presence of rarefied gas flow
modeled via the non-linear damping relation and including the
centrifugal force that exists when the nano-bridge is mounted on
the circumference of a rotating machine, respectively. The strain
gradient elasticity theory is also used to investigate the dynamic
pull-in instability of an electrically double-sided actuated nano-
bridge considering rarefied gas effects and centrifugal forces. Since
97
the mechanical behavior of mirco- and nano-structures is size
dependent, the strain gradient theory has been applied to analyze
the mechanical behavior of the nano-bridge.
The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2, the governing
non-linear equation of the nano-bridge is derived via the Euler beam
model. In Section 3, the reduced order method is applied to separate
the spatial and the temporal dependence of constitutive partial
differential equation (PDE). The solution to the system of ordinary
differential equations is numerically obtained using Runge–Kutta
method and discussed in Section 4. The influence of length scale
parameters is investigated on the dynamic pull-in voltage. Further-
more, the impact of voltage, dispersion and centrifugal forces and
damping parameters are demonstrated on the dynamic behavior of
vibrating nano-bridge via phase portrait of the system.
2. Theoretical model
2.1. Fundamentals of strain gradient theory
Experiment has indicated that the mechanical behavior of
mirco- and nano-structures are highly size dependent [35,36]. For
instance, the torsional hardening of copper wire increases by a
factor of 3 as the wire diameter decreases from 170 to 12 μm [37].
The bending rigidity of silica and polythene beams can increase
significantly when the breadth of the beam reduces to several ten
nanometers. Further discussion can be found in Refs. [38–40]. It is
worth noting that the classical continuum theories break down to
predict and interpret the size effect phenomena [41]. In this regard,
size-dependent continuum theories have been developed by intro-
ducing additional material length scale parameters as well as the
Lame constants [42–45]. One of the most successful size-dependent
theories is the strain gradient elasticity theory proposed by Lam
et al. [46]. This non-classic continuum theory is more general than
the modified couple stress theory [47] and introduces three
material length scale parameters to characterize the dilatation
gradient tensor, the deviatoric stretch gradient tensor and the
symmetric rotation gradient tensor. The material parameters may
be determined via experiments or molecular dynamic simulation
[38,39]. The strain gradient theory has been applied to analyze the
mechanical behavior of ultra-small beams and other structures by
many researchers [48–52]. Recently, the strain gradient theory has
also been applied for analyzing NEMS [53–58].
In the strain gradient theory, the strain energy density for the
linear elastic and isotropic materials with small deformation is
written as [47]
1

U¼ σ ij εij þ pi γ i þ τð1Þ
ijk
ηð1Þ
ijk
þ msij χ sij ; ð1Þ
2
98 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106

where In the above equation, N i is the axial force and Fa is the axial
1  resultant force associated with the mid-plane stretching (in the
εij ¼ ui;j þ uj;i ð2Þ absence of external axial force, thermal stress, etc.). When the
2
nano-beam is under tension, the actual beam length L0 will become
γ i ¼ εmm;i ð3Þ longer than the original length L. However, the beam is immobilized
in the Z- and X-directions at both ends of the nano-bridge. Thus, an
1  1   additional axial force will occur and can be expressed as
ηð1Þ ¼ ε þ εki;j þ εij;k  δij εmm;k þ 2εmk;m
ijk 3 jk;i 15 Z 
1     EA 0  EA L ∂W 2
 δ ε þ 2εmi;m þ δki εmm;j þ 2εmj;m ð4Þ Fa ¼ L L ¼ dX ð14Þ
15 jk mm;i L 2L 0 ∂X

1
χ sij ¼ ejkl ul;ki ð5Þ 2.2.2. Work of external forces
2
ð1Þ Considering the distribution of external forces per unit length
In the above equations, ui , γ i , η χ δij and eijk indicate displace-
ijk
, s
ij ,
of the beam (fexternal), the work by these external forces can be
ment vector, dilatation gradient vector, deviatoric stretch gradient
obtained as
tensor, symmetric rotation gradient tensor, Kronocker delta and
ð1Þ Z L
permutation symbol, respectively. Also εij , σ ij , pi , τijk , msij , are the
V external ¼ f external WðX; tÞdX ð15Þ
strain tensor, Cauchy's stress and high order stress tensors, 0
respectively and identified as [46]

 Now, by considering the fringing field correction for narrow beam
ν
σ ij ¼ 2μ εij þ εmm δij ð6Þ model, the electrostatic attractions, from the lower and upper
1  2ν plates are written as [59]

pi ¼ 2μl0 γ i
2
ð7Þ ε0 bV 2 dgap;1 W
F elec;1 ¼  2 1 þ 0:65 ð16  aÞ
2 dgap;1  W b
τð1Þ 2 ð1Þ
¼ 2μl1 ηijk ð8Þ
ijk

ε0 bV 2 dgap;2 þ W
F elec;2 ¼   2 1 þ0:65 ð16  bÞ
msij ¼ 2μ χ
2
l2 sij ð9Þ 2 dgap;2 þ W b

In the above equations, ν and μ are Poisson's ratio and the shear
modulus, respectively. Also l0, l1 and l2 are additional material
length scale parameters in the constitutive equations of higher
order stresses.
2.2. Constitutive equation
Fig. 1 shows the schematic representation of a nano-bridge.
Herein, nano-structures are considered with a beam length of L,
width of b and thickness of h.
2.2.1. Strain energy
The total strain energy U for a deformed Euler–Bernoulli beam
is given by
U ¼ U bending þ U stretching
In the above equations, ε0 ¼8.854  10  12 C2 N  1 m  2 is the
permittivity of vacuum, V is the voltage applied to the nano-
bridge and dgap is the initial distance between the fixed and
movable electrodes.
Dispersion forces are indeed the fluctuation-induced electro-
magnetic forces between neutral bodies that are very significant in
sub-micron scales and nano-separations [60]. It should be noted
that the dispersion forces can highly affect the stability behavior of
the nano-bridges (e.g., change in the pull-in parameters or
collapse of the freestanding structure [59,60]).
The van der Waals effect per unit length of the beam which is
proportional to the inverse cube of the separation can be written
as [59]
Ah b
F vdW;1 ¼  3 ð17  aÞ
ð10Þ 6π dgap;1  W

where Ustretching and Ubending are the energies stored in the beam due Ah b
to axial forces and bending strain, respectively. According to the F vdW;2 ¼   3 ð17  bÞ
6π dgap;2 þ W
Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, the displacement field is stated as
where Ah is the Hamaker constant with values in the range
∂WðX; tÞ
u1 ¼  z u2 ¼ 0 u3 ¼ WðX; tÞ ð11Þ ½0:4; 4  10  19 . The second effect is the intermolecular Casimir
∂X
forces per unit length of the beam defined as follows:
The variable, W, indicates the beam displacement in direction of z-
axis. Substituting the linear displacement field of Eq. (11) in Eqs. π 2 ℏcb
F Cas;1 ¼  4 ð18  aÞ
(1)–(9) and after some elaborations, the bending strain energy is 240 dgap;1 W
obtained as
Z Z "  2 2 π 2 ℏcb
1 L 8 ∂ W F Cas;2 ¼   4 ð18  bÞ
U bending ¼ U dυ ¼ EI þ 2μAl0 þ μAl1 þ μAl2
2 2 2
240 dgap;2 þ W
υ 2 0 15 ∂X 2
  3 2 # where ℏ ¼ 1:055  10  34 is the Planck's constant divided by 2π
4 2 ∂ W and c¼2.998  108 m/s is the speed of light.
þ I 2μl0 þ μl1
2
dX ð12Þ
5 ∂X 3

In the above equation, I is the second moment of inertia around y- 2.2.3. Centrifugal force effect
axis. The stretching energy stored in the beam due to axial forces As the mounted nano-sensor starts to rotate, the nano-beam is
can be written as affected by the centrifugal force of the nano-beam mass. The
Z  centrifugal force caused by the rotating machine is a function of
1 L ∂W 2 the radius of the surface R, the nano-size gap ddap , the deflection of
U stretching ¼ ðF a þ N i Þ dX ð13Þ
2 0 ∂X nano-beam w and the angular velocity of the rotary machine ω
 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106 99

and can be written as   2 # Z L

4 ∂3 W
þ I 2μ μ
2 2
  l0 þ l1 3
dX þ f external W dX ð27Þ
F cent: ¼ ρbh R þddap þ W ω2 ð19Þ 5 ∂X 0
 
For the case of R⪢ ddap þ W , Eq. (19) can be replaced with By using x ¼X/L and w¼ W/g, the dimensionless total energy can
be written as
F cent: ¼ ρbhRω 2
ð20Þ
Z  2 Z 1" _ _
#
1 1 ∂w c c ^
∂w
Π¼ ρA dx þ w dx
2 0 ∂τ 0 γ 3 ð1  wÞ3 γ 3 ð1 þ wÞ3 ∂τ
2.2.4. Rarefied gas effects
Z " Z 1  2 # 2
The rarefied damping effect in low pressure gas depends on the 1 1 ∂w ∂w
 f i þα dx dx
dimensions of the surface and the gap distance. The governing 2 0 0 ∂x ∂x
equation is the same as that of an atmospheric pressure but the Z "  2  2 !! 2
viscosity should be modified to effective coefficient of viscosity. 1 1 μ l0 l1 ∂2 w
 1 þ s 30 þ8 þ 15
For the viscous motion with Reynolds number less than unity 2 0 15 l2 l2 ∂x2
within small gaps, the pressure PðX; Y; tÞ under isothermal condi-  2 !
 2  3 2 #
tions is governed by the non-linear compressible Reynolds equa- μ l0 l1 ∂ w
þ  s 2 5 þ2
tion [61] 30 L=h l 2 l 2 ∂x3
  Z
∂ ∂PðX; Y; tÞ ∂ ∂PðX; Y; tÞ 12κ ef f ∂ðgPðX; Y; tÞÞ 1
λn λn v2
PðX; Y; tÞ þ PðX; Y; tÞ ¼ þ ð1 þ 0:65γ ð1 wÞÞ
∂X ∂X ∂Y ∂Y g3 ∂t n nþ
0 ð1  wÞ ðr þ wÞ 4ð1  wÞ2
ð21  aÞ !
v2
PðX;  b=2; tÞ ¼ PðX; b=2; tÞ ¼ 0 ð21  bÞ  ð1 þ0:65γ ðr þ wÞÞ þ Dω2 w dx ð28Þ
4ðr þwÞ2
where P is the pressure, the non-uniform gap spacing is
where the dimensionless parameters are defined as
g ðx; t Þ ¼ ddap  wðx; t Þ and the effective viscosity which considered sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
to account for the rarefied gas effects can be obtained as [62] EI W X 2 24εL4 V 2 dgap;1
τ¼ t; w ¼ ; x¼ ; V ¼ 3 3 ; γ¼ ;
κ ρbhL 4 dgap;1 L Eh d b
κ ef f ¼ ð22Þ gap;1
1 þ 9:638K 1:159
n 12μ dgap;2 ρbhRL4
μs ¼  2 ; r¼ ; D¼
where κ is the viscosity coefficient at 1 atm and Kn is the Knudsen E h=l2 dgap;1 EIdgap;1
number. Knudsen number is one of the most important para-  2
Ah bl
4
π hcbl
2 4
dgap;1
meters for characterizing such a rarefaction and is defined as λ3 ¼ ; λ4 ¼ ; α¼6 ;
6EI π
4 5 h
dgap;1 240EIdgap;1
K n ¼ λ=d; ð23Þ sffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
Ni L2 1
where λ is the gas molecular mean free path and d is the fi ¼ ; c^ ¼ κ ef f L2
ð29Þ
EI ρbhEI
characteristic length of the structure [63]. In the normal motion,
the κeff is not a function of the position. By integrating Eq. (21-a)
and considering the boundary condition (21-b), the damping
pressure for parallel plates can be obtained as
3. Solution method
" #
6κ ef f b
2
∂g
PðY; tÞ ¼  3 Y2 ð24Þ To solve the governing equation of the systems, the displace-
g 2 ∂t
ment is expressed as a combination of a complete set of indepen-
Thereby, the damping force due to rarefied gas effects on the dent basis functions ϕi(x) in the form of
nano-bridge per unit length can be defined as
X
n
Z b=2 wðxÞ ¼ qi ðtÞϕi ðxÞ ð30Þ
κ ef f b3 ∂WðX; tÞ
F sd ¼ PðY; tÞdY ¼  i¼1
 b=2 ðdgap;1  WðX; tÞÞ3 ∂t
where the index i refers to the number of modes included in the
κ ef f b3 ∂WðX; tÞ simulation. We use the linear mode shapes of the nano-beam
 ð25Þ
ðdgap;1 þ WðX; tÞÞ3 ∂t (based on the classical continuum theory) as basic functions in the
Rayleigh–Ritz procedure. The mode shapes of the clamped nano-
beam can be expressed as
2.2.5. Dimensionless energy of system
      coshðωi Þ  cos ðωi Þ  
The kinetic energy of the beam is expressed as ϕi ξ ¼ cosh ωi ξ  cos ωi ξ  sinh ωi ξ
sinhðωi Þ  sin ðωi Þ
Z Z " #  
1 L ∂W 2  sin ωi ξ ð31Þ
T¼ ρ dA dX ð26Þ
2 0 A ∂t
where ωi is the ith root of characteristic equation of the clamped–
The total energy of the system can be written as clamped beams.
Z Z  " 2 # Z L
1 L ∂W 2 ∂u ∂2 W ∂Π
Π¼ ρ z þ dA dX  F sd W dX ¼0 i ¼ 0; 1…; N ð32Þ
2 0 A ∂t ∂t ∂x∂t 0 ∂qi
Z 
1 L ∂W 2 This leads to a system of time-dependent equations which can be
 ðF a þ N i Þ dX
2 0 ∂X solved numerically. Using the Taylor expansion for electrostatic
Z "   2 2 and dispersion force, substituting (28) and (31) into (32), using the
1 L 8 ∂ W
 EI þ2μAl0 þ μAl1 þ μAl2
2 2 2
orthogonality of ϕi(x) and then following some straightforward
2 0 15 ∂X 2 mathematical operations, a system of governing equations can be
100 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106

Table 1 4.1. Validation and comparison with literature

A comparison between dynamic pull-in voltages calculated by different methods.
To validate the solution method and check the convergence
One mode Three modes Reduced order Finite
assumption assumption model [61] difference [61] rate of the series, the values of the dynamic pull-in voltage for the
system calculated by different methods, are presented in Table 1.
V pid 42.16 41.85 41.68 41.61 As seen, the values of Vpid computed by the present model agree
well with those computed by Krylov [64].
Moreover, Table 2 presents the calculated and measured
Table 2 fundamental frequencies for electrically actuated micro-bridges.
A comparison between fundamental frequencies of microbeams calculated by This table reveals that the results of present model agree well with
different methods. the experimental measurements [65] as well as numerical meth-
ods [65–67].
Beam length D.C. voltage ω0 =2π (kHz)
(μm) (V) As another case, the dynamic pull-in voltage of a fixed–fixed
Present Measured Ref. Ref. Ref. silicon beam of length¼ 1000 μm, width¼ 30 μm, height¼2.4 μm
model [62] [62] [63] [64] and initial gap¼10.1 μm is modeled. The material properties of the
beam is ρ ¼2231 kg/m3, E¼97.5 GPa and υ ¼0.26 GPa. The obtained
210 6.0 322.34 322.05 324.70 324.70 324.78
310 3.0 162.46 163.22 164.35 163.46 163.16 result is presented in Table 3 as well as those reported in the
410 3.0 102.03 102.17 103.80 103.70 103.42 literature [68,69]. The static deformation of this beam has been
investigated by Krylov et al. [68] both experimentally and numeri-
cally using reduced-order model. They predicted (theoretically) that
Table 3 the pull-in voltage of the microbeam is 118.5 V while it was
A comparison between dynamic pull-in voltages of typical microbeam. measured (experimentally) as 100 V. Das and Batra also determined
the pull-in voltage of this beam using finite element method [69].
Method Present approach Experiment [65] Finite element [66]
They reported that the pull-in voltage of the microbeam is between
V pid 98 100 99–100 99 V and 100 V. As seen in Table 3, good agreement between the
present method and those of literature is achieved.

found as 4.2. A nano-bridge with micro gap

2 3
6 7_ For micro-scale gap, the Coulomb force is dominant and the
6 1 1 7c _
q€ i þ 6 þ 7 3 qi dispersion forces are negligible due to the large distance between
3 γ
4 P
N P
N 5
ð1  qj ϕj Þ3 ð1 þ qj ϕj Þ the nano-bridge and the ground. Indeed, if the distance between the
j¼1 j¼1 moveable electrode and the ground is of the order of few micrometers,
"  2  2 !#
l0 μs l1 the presence of van der Waals and Casimir force can be neglected.
þ 1þ 30 þ8 þ15 ω4i qi Fig. 2a illustrates the phase portrait of a vibrating nano-bridge in
15 l2 l2
0 1 the absence of actuation voltage and dispersion forces. The trajectories
"   2 # Z 1
μs l0
2
l1 ∂6 @ X
N elucidate that in this situation, there exist a stable fixed point (the
  2 5 þ2 ϕi 6 qj ϕj Adx þ Dω2 origin) with stable limit cycles surrounding it. As clearly shown in
30 L=h l2 l2 0 ∂X j ¼ 1
Fig. 2b, for one-sided actuated nano-switch, when the actuation
8 2 0 12 3 9
Z > Z > voltage V ¼ 30 is applied, the second fixed point which is an unstable
1 < 1 X
N dϕj XN d ϕj =
2
6 @ 7
A dx5 saddle node appears in the phase portrait. There exists a homoclinic
 ϕi f i þ η4 qj qj 2 dx
0 >
: 0 dx dx > ; orbit which starts from the unstable branch and goes back to the
j¼1 j¼1
saddle node at the stable one. For double-sided actuated nano-bridges
0 1k
Z 1 X
1 X
N and for V ¼ 30; r ¼ 1, as can be observed in Fig. 2c, the phase portrait
 ϕi Ak @ qj ϕj A dx of the system has two saddle nodes and one stable center point.
0 k¼0 j¼1 According to the properties of the stable node and the saddle point,
0 1 
 2  2 ! 3 X  there exist two heteroclinic orbits which depart from the unstable
μs l0 l1 ∂ @ N A d
2
ϕ 

þ  2 5 þ2 q ϕ
j j
i

branch of one saddle point and arrive at the stable branch of the other
30 L=h l2 l2 ∂X 3 j ¼ 1 dX 2  one. In other words, the homoclinic orbit vanishes and the heteroclinic
x¼1
 2 orbit appears in the phase portrait of the nano-structure.
μ l0 The phase portrait of the nano-bridge for V ¼ 30; r ¼ 1:1 is also
  s 2 5
30 L=h l2 plotted in Fig. 2d. It appears from this figure that, if the actuation
0 1
 2 ! 3 X voltage is applied between the rigid and movable electrodes with
d ϕ
2
l1 ∂ @ N different gaps, one saddle node vanishes and the heteroclinic orbit
þ2 3
qj ϕj A 2i jx ¼ 0 ¼ 0 i ¼ 1; 2; …; N ð33Þ
l2 ∂X j ¼ 1 dX is replaced by the homoclinic orbit. Fig. 2e illustrates the trajectory
of the nano-bridge when the non-dimensional actuation para-
where N is the number of terms in Rayleigh–Ritz expansion and Ak meter increases to dynamic pull-in one (V ¼ 36:42). In this state,
is the Taylor expansion coefficient of electrostatic and dispersion the nano-structure becomes dynamically unstable for any initial
force. The Maple commercial software is employed to numerically conditions. There is no homoclinic orbits and the physically center
solve the system of equations. point coalesces with the saddle nodes.
The impact of actuation voltage parameter V on the dynamic
behavior of one-sided actuated nano-beams is studied in Fig. 3 via
4. Results and discussion plotting time history and phase portrait diagrams. One can observe
that the time period of oscillation increases as the applied voltage
In this section, the dynamic pull-in instability of nano-beams are increases. The limited cycle trajectories around the stable center
investigated for different models and dispersion force assumptions. point in the phase portrait manifests the vibrating behavior of the
 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106
Fig. 2. Phase portrait of vibrating nano-beams for N i ¼ 10; l0 =l2 ¼ l1 =l2 ¼ 1; λn ¼ 0; h=l ¼ 2. (a) V ¼ 0, (b) V ¼ 30, (c) double-side V ¼ 30; r ¼ 1, (d) double-side V ¼ 30; r ¼ 1:1
and (e) V ¼ V PI ¼ 36:42.
nano-structure at low values of applied voltage parameter. As the
actuation voltage increases, the trajectories in the phase portrait
come closer to the unstable saddle node. At a critical value of
voltage parameter namely dynamic pull-in voltage, the nano-beam
collapses onto the substrate and becomes dynamically unstable.
4.3. Effect of dispersion forces
The phase portrait for a vibrating nano-bridge in the absence of
actuation voltage is presented in Fig. 4. This figure clearly depicts that
when the dispersion forces are taken into account, even in the
absence of any applied voltage, the structure of the phase portrait
will be altered. Actually, the phase portrait has two fixed points; the
stable center point and the unstable saddle node. The homoclinic
orbit originates from the unstable branch saddle node and returns to
it with the stable one. Beyond the unstable saddle node, the nano-
beam collapses onto the substrate and becomes structurally unstable.
The influences of dispersion force parameters λ3 and λ4 on the
pull-in instability of the nano-bridge based on the strain gradient
101
elasticity theory (SGET) are investigated through Figs. 5 and 6.
According to these figures, the time period of vibrating nano-
beams increases by increasing the non-dimensional parameters λ3
and λ4 . This means that the fundamental frequency of oscillation
decreases by increasing the dispersion forces. Pull-in phenomenon
occurs when the intermolecular force parameters approaches the
critical values (here λ3; c ¼ 149:15 and λ4; c ¼ 109:84). The nano-
bridge loses its stability beyond the critical value and falls down to
the rigid electrode.
4.4. Effect of rarefied gas damping
The influence of rarefied damping parameter c^ on the dynamic
behavior of vibrating nano-bridge is illustrated in Fig. 7. As
indicated earlier, in the absence of any damping parameter in
the governing equation, two equilibrium points, a stable center
point and an unstable saddle node exist in the phase portrait of
motion. Fig. 7b shows that the stable center equilibrium point
becomes a stable focus point if the damping parameter is taken
102 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106
Fig. 3. Impact of actuation voltage on the dynamic behavior of nano-beams by
assuming van der Waals force. (a) Time history and (b) phase portrait for
f i ¼ 10; l0 =l2 ¼ l1 =l2 ¼ 1; λn ¼ 0; h=l ¼ 2.
into account. It can be concluded that the nano-bridge makes
convergent oscillations near the focus point in the presence of the
damping, and causes periodic oscillations if the damping is
neglected. On the other hand, the second equilibrium point is an
unstable saddle point for any c^ . When the actuation voltage
reaches the pull-in voltage, the trajectories diverge and the
nano-structure becomes unstable.
The results show that the type of the stable point changes
when the rarefied damping effects is considered. In order to
examine the impact of damping parameter c^ on the instability
threshold of nano-bridges, the dynamic pull-in voltage of the
system versus the length scale ratio h=l, for some values of
damping parameter is plotted in Fig. 8. According to the illustrated
results, it is inferred that the dynamic pull-in value is increases by
increasing the non-dimensional damping parameter c^ .
It should be noted that based on the governing equation
described in (33), the rarefied gas damping depends on the
geometry of the nano-structure. Thereby, the variation of the cross
section of the beam changes the critical damping and dynamic-pull
in behavior of the system. Therefore, it is necessary to study the
effect of the geometry parameter γ on the dynamics of the nano-
structure. Based on the reported results in Fig. 9, one can conclude
that the dynamic pull-in voltage decreases as the geometry para-
meter increases. On the other hand, it is shown in Fig. 10a and b that
the non-dimensional center gap and the position of the stable spiral
point shift downward by increasing the geometry parameter γ .
4.5. Effect of length scale parameters
Fig. 11 exhibits the variation of dynamic pull-in voltage versus
length scale ratio h=l for different model assumptions; i.e. classical
theory (CT) (l0 ¼ l1 ¼ l2 ¼ 0), size dependent modified couple stress
theory (MCST) (l0 ¼ l1 ¼ 0 & l2 ¼ l) and strain gradient elasticity
Fig. 4. Phase portrait of vibrating nano-beams for
f i ¼ 10; l0 =l2 ¼ l1 =l2 ¼ 1; V ¼ 0; h=l ¼ 2. (a) van der Waals effect λ3 ¼ 100 and
(b) Casimir effect λ4 ¼ 100.
theory (SGET) (l0 ¼ l1 ¼ l2 ¼ l). As observed, for all studied models,
the dynamic pull-in voltage considering van der Waals dispersion
force is greater than those for Casimir attraction force assumption.
In addition, dynamic pull-in voltage decreases by increasing the
dimensionless parameter h=l. When the nano-bridge dimension is
of the order of length scale parameter, the SGET predicts higher
values of pull-in voltage in comparison with MCST and CT.
Fig. 12a and b illustrates the time history and phase portrait of
double-sided actuated nano-beam at the corresponding dynamic
pull-in voltages for some values of non-dimensional parameter
h=l. According to the obtained results, one can observe that by
increasing the parameter h=l, the pull-in time increases. Moreover,
by increasing the parameter h=l, the dynamic pull-in phenomenon
occurs at larger values of dynamic deflection of the nano-bridge.
4.6. Effect of centrifugal force
When the assumed nano-bridge is mounted on the circumfer-
ence of a rotating machine, the dynamic pull-in behavior of the
sensor is significantly influenced by the angular speed of the shaft.
Fig. 13 plots the non-dimensional center gap versus the actuation
voltage for some assigned values of angular velocities. As shown in
Fig. 13, when the angular speed is increased, the non-dimensional
gap is decreased at the same bias DC voltage. On the other hand, the
dynamic pull-in voltage decreased by increasing the angular speed
of the shaft. Therefore, it is clearly concluded that the pull-in values
of the nano-bridge is restricted by the speed of the rotating shaft.
The time history and phase portraits of the nano-beam for
various values of angular velocities at the corresponding dynamic
pull-in voltage are illustrated in Fig. 14a and b. According to the
obtained results, the pull-in time of the nano-bridge is decreased by
 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106 103

Fig. 5. Influence of dispersion force parameter λ3 for Fig. 7. (a) Time history and (b) phase plane of actuated nano-bridge in the
f i ¼ 10; l0 =l2 ¼ l1 =l2 ¼ 1; V ¼ 20; h=l ¼ 2. (a) Time history and (b) phase plane. presence of rarefied gas effects.

Fig. 8. Influence of rarefied damping parameter c^ on the dynamic-pull-in voltage of

nano-bridges.

Fig. 6. Influence of dispersion force parameter λ4 for

f i ¼ 10; l0 =l2 ¼ l1 =l2 ¼ 1; V ¼ 20; h=l ¼ 2. (a) Time history and (b) phase plane. Fig. 9. Dynamic pull-in instability of nano-bridge for different γ.
104 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106
Fig. 10. (a) Non-dimensional gap and (b) position of spiral fixed point versus the
electrostatic applied voltage for different γ.
Fig. 11. Dynamic pull-in instability of nano-bridge for different assumed models for
f i ¼ 10; λ3 ¼  10; λ4 ¼  10.
increasing the angular velocity and the pull-in phenomenon
occurred at lower values of applied bias DC voltage. On the other
hand, it is also inferred that as the speed of the rotating shaft
increases and due to the rotary inertia effects, dynamic pull-in
instability happens at higher values of dynamic pull-in deflection.
Finally, the dynamic pull-in voltage versus the length scale para-
meter h=l is plotted in Fig. 15 for different values of rotating speeds.
One can observe that the dynamic pull-in voltage significantly
decreases by increasing the angular velocity. Furthermore, it is
clearly demonstrated that the pull-in behavior of the considered
nano-bridge is more sensitive to the small size of the structure,
when the beam height is in the order of length scale parameter. The
reported results confirms that the effect of the centrifugal force on
the dynamic pull-in behavior of the system is to decrease the
dynamic pull-in values and increase the dynamic pull-in deflection.
Fig. 12. Time history and phase diagram of vibrating double-sided actuated nano-
bridge for different values of at h=l corresponding dynamic pull-in voltage for
r ¼ 2; f i ¼ 10; l0 =l2 ¼ l1 =l2 ¼ 1.
Fig. 13. Non-dimensional gap versus the electrostatic applied voltage for different
angular velocities.
The variation of Lmax for typical freestanding nano-bridges as a
function of the rotation radius and the angular speed is illustrated
in Fig. 16. R ¼5 cm, R¼0.5 m and R¼5 m are radii of typical
centrifuge rotor, airplane propeller and helicopter propeller,
respectively. It should be noted that for small separation
(dgap ¼ 10 nm), the angular speed of rotary surface does not affect
the maximum permissible length of the nano-beam; whereas at
larger distances (dgap ¼100 nm), increasing the angular speed of
rotary surface leads to significant decrease in maximum permis-
sible length of the nano-beam. Moreover, increasing the angular
speed of rotary surface decreases the Lmax.
5. Conclusions
In this research, the strain gradient elasticity theory is applied
to investigate the size-dependent dynamic pull-in instability of
vibrating actuated nano-bridge. The influence of dispersion and
 H.M. Sedighi et al. / International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics 77 (2015) 96–106 105

centrifugal forces and rarefied gas damping on the dynamic

response is demonstrated. The phase portrait exhibits stable limit
cycles around the center point in the absence of actuation voltage
and dispersion forces. When these parameters are taken into
consideration, the structure of phase portrait changes and the
unstable saddle node appears in addition to the stable center
point. The phase portrait of the double-sided actuated nano-bridge
exhibits periodic, heteroclinic and homoclinic orbits. It is found
that the fundamental frequency of oscillation decreases by
increasing the dispersion forces. When the actuation voltage
reaches its critical value, pull-in phenomenon occurs and makes
the nano-bridge unstable. When the nano-bridge dimension is of
the order of length scale parameters, the SGET predicts higher
values of pull-in voltage in comparison with MCST and CT. The
pull-in voltage shifts upwards when the damping effect is
included in the simulations and the stable center point becomes
the stable focus point. Finally, the results showed that in the
presence of the centrifugal force the pull-in voltage of the system
decreases.

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