Dynamical characteristics of fluid-conveying microbeams actuated by electrostatic force

Abstract

In this paper, the dynamic characteristics and pull-in instability of electrostatically actuated microbeams which convey internal fluids are investigated. A theoretical model is developed by considering the elastic structure, laminar flow and electrostatic field to characterize the dynamic behavior. In addition, the energy dissipation induced by the fluid viscosity is studied through analyzing the fluid–structure interactions between the laminar fluid flow and oscillating microbeam by comprehensively considering the effects of velocity profile and fluid viscosity. The results indicate that the system is subjected to both the pull-in instability and the fluid-induced instability. It is demonstrated that as the flow velocity increases, both the static pull-in voltage and the dynamic one decrease for clamped–clamped microbeams while increase for clamped-free microbeams. It is also shown that the applied voltage and the steady flow can adjust the resonant frequency. The perturbation viscous flow caused by the vibration of microbeam is manifested to result in energy dissipation. The quality factor decreases with the increment of both the mode order and flow velocity. However, when the oscillating flow dominates, the flow velocity has no obvious effect.