Electrostatic fringing-fields effects on the structural behavior of MEMS shallow arches

In this paper, we investigate the effects of electric fringing-fields on the structural behavior of a MEMS shallow arch. We consider the Galerkin method-based reduced-order modeling to discretize the governing nonlinear equation and obtain a lumped-parameter model of the system. We then assume two most well-known models for demonstrating the fringing-fields effects, that is the Palmer’s and the Mejis-Fokkema models. Using the discretized model, we investigate the system nonlinear behavior assuming the two electric fringing-fields models. The presented results show that for these particular cases of arch configuration, fringing-fields effects should be considered since it improves the prediction of corresponding voltages for both snap-through and pull-in structural instabilities as well as the overall static deflection of the MEMS arch. Comparisons of the acquired numerical results with some available experimental data as well as ANSYS^® based finite-elements simulations confirm that neglecting the fringing-fields effects in MEMS arches can represent a significant source of error which should be avoided using much more accurate modeling techniques.