Bifurcation and pull-in voltages of primary resonance of electrostatically actuated SWCNT cantilevers to include van der Waals effect

Abstract

In this work the voltage response of primary resonance of electrostatically actuated single wall carbon nano tubes (SWCNT) cantilevers over a parallel ground plate is investigated. Three forces act on the SWCNT cantilever, namely electrostatic, van der Waals and damping. While the damping is linear, the electrostatic and van der Waals forces are nonlinear. Moreover, the electrostatic force is also parametric since it is given by AC voltage. Under these forces the dynamics of the SWCNT is nonlinear parametric. The van der Waals force is significant for values less than 50 nm of the gap between the SWCNT and the ground substrate. Reduced order model method (ROM) is used to investigate the system under soft excitation and weak nonlinearities. The voltage-amplitude response and influences of parameters are reported for primary resonance (AC near half natural frequency).