Amplitude-Frequency Response of Superharmonic Resonance of Third Order of Electrostatically Actuated MEMS Cantilever Resonators

This work deals with amplitude frequency response of MEMS cantilever resonators undergoing superharmonic resonance of third order. The cantilever resonator is parallel to a ground plate and under alternating current (AC) voltage that excites the cantilever into vibrations. The driving frequency of the AC voltage is near one sixth of the first natural frequency of the cantilever beam resulting into superharmonic resonance of third order. The cantilever beam is modeled using Euler-Bernoulli beam theory. The electrostatic force is modeled using Palmer’s formula to include the fringe effect. In order to investigate the amplitude frequency behavior of the system reduced order models (ROMs) are developed. Three methods are used to solve these ROMs they are 1) the method of multiple scales (MMS) for ROM with one mode of vibration, 2) homotopy analysis method (HAM) for ROM with one mode of vibration, and 3) direct numerical integration for 2 modes of vibration Reduced Order Model (2T ROM) producing time responses of the tip of the cantilever resonator. In this work the limitations of MMS and HAM are highlighted when considering large voltage values i.e hard excitations. For large voltage values MMS and HAM cannot accurately predict the amplitude frequency response; the results from 2T ROM time responses disagree significantly with the MMS and HAM solutions. The effect of voltage on the frequency response is investigated. As the voltage values in the system increase the responses shift to lower frequencies and larger amplitudes.