Microplates are the building blocks of many micro-electro-mechanical systems. It is common for them to experience initial curvature imperfection due to residual stresses caused by the micro fabrication process. Such plates are essentially different from perfectly flat ones and cannot be modeled using flat plate models. In this paper, we adopt a dynamic analog of the von Karman governing equations of imperfect plates. These equations are then used to develop a reduced order model based on the Galerkin procedure, to simulate the static and dynamic behavior of the microplate under electrostatic actuation. To validate the simulation results, an initially curved imperfect microplate made of silicon nitride is fabricated and tested. The static behaviour of the microplate is investigated when applying a DC voltage V dc . Then, the dynamic behaviour of the microplate is examined under the application of a harmonic AC voltage, V ac , superimposed to V dc . The simulation results show good agreement with the experimentally measured responses.

is an open access repository that collects the work of Arts et Métiers ParisTech researchers and makes it freely available over the web where possible. a b s t r a c tIn this paper, we study the hygrothermal aging of an anhydride-cured epoxy under temperature and hygrometry conditions simulating those experienced by an aircraft in wet tropical or subtropical regions. Gravimetric and dimensional measurements were performed and they indicate that there are three stages in this aging process: the first one, corresponding to the early cycles can be called the "induction stage". The second stage of about 1000 cycles duration, could be named the "swelling stage", during which the volume increase is almost equal to the volume of the (liquid) water absorbed. Both the first and second stages are accompanied by modifications of the mechanical properties and the glass transition temperature. During the third ("equilibrium") stage, up to 3000 cycles, there is no significant change in the physical properties despite the continuous increase of water uptake. This can be explained by the fact that only physically sorbed water can influence physical properties.

We present an investigation of the static and dynamic behavior of the nonlinear von-Karman plates when actuated by the nonlinear electrostatic forces. The investigation is based on a reduced order model developed using the Galerkin method, which rely on modeshapes and in-plane shape functions extracted using a finite element method. In this study, a fully clamped microplate is considered. We investigate the static behavior and the effect of different non-dimensional design parameters. The static results are validated by comparison with the results calculated by a finite element model. The forcedvibration response of the plate is then investigated when the plate is excited by a harmonic AC load superimposed to a DC load. The dynamic behavior is examined near the primary and secondary (superharmonic and subharmonic) resonances. The microplate shows a strong hardening behavior due to the cubic nonlinearity of mid-plane stretching. However, the behavior switches to softening as the DC load is increased. Finally, near-square plates are studied to understand the effect of geometric imperfections of microplates.

We investigate the static and dynamic behavior of a multilayer clamped-free–clamped-free (CFCF) microplate, which is made of polyimide, gold, chromium, and nickel. The microplate is slightly curved away from a stationary electrode and is electrostatically actuated. The free and forced vibrations of the microplate are examined. First, we experimentally investigate the variation of the first natural frequency under the electrostatic direct current (DC) load. Then, the forced dynamic behavior is investigated by applying a harmonic alternating current (AC) voltage superimposed to a DC voltage. Results are shown demonstrating the transition of the dynamic response of the microplate from hardening to softening as the DC voltage is changed as well the dynamic pull-in phenomenon. For the theoretical model, we adopt a dynamic analog of the von Karman governing equations accounting for initial curvature imperfection. These equations are then used to develop a reduced-order model (ROM) based on the Galerkin procedure to simulate the mechanical behavior of the microplate. We compare the theoretical results with the experimental data and show excellent agreement among the results. We also examine the effect of the initial rise on the natural frequencies of first three symmetric–symmetric modes of the plate.