Mechanical characterization and nonlinear analysis of a piezoelectric laminated micro-switch under electrostatic actuation

In this paper, a comprehensive model of a piezoelectric laminated micro-switch subjected to electrostatic excitation, which accounts for the nonlinearities due to inertia, curvature, and electrostatic forces, is presented. Dynamic equations of this model is derived by the Lagrange method and solved by the Galerkin method using five modes. The laminated micro-switch is assumed as an elastic Euler–Bernoulli beam, and the piezoelectric material is bonded onto a portion of it. The electrostatic actuation results are compared with other existing experimental results. Whereas the major drawback of electrostatically actuated micro-switches is the high driving voltage, using the piezoelectric materials in these systems can provide less driving voltage. The effect of variation in the length, thickness, and applying voltage of the piezoelectric materials on mechanical characterizations is discussed. The aim of this work is design and control of a micro-switch using three different methods: the softening effect due to electrostatic actuation, the hardening effect due to piezoelectric materials, and varying the length and thickness of the piezoelectric materials. Also, this model can be used to design an actuator-sensor smart micro device.