Investigation of pull-in behavior of circular nanoplate actuator based on the modified couple stress theory

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to present a nonclassical circular plate model subjected to hydrostatic pressure and electrostatic actuations by considering the modified couple stress theory and the surface elasticity theory. The pull-in phenomenon and nonlinear behavior of circular nanoplate are investigated.

Design/methodology/approach

The hybrid differential transformation method (DTM) and finite difference method (FDM) are used to approach the model. The DTM was first applied to the equation with respect to the time, and then the FDM was applied with respect to the radius.

Findings

The numerical results were in agreement with the numerical data in the previous literature. The effects of the length scale parameters, surface parameters, thermal stress, residual stress, hydrostatic pressure and electrostatic actuations of the nonclassical circular plate on the pull-in instability are investigated. The parametric study demonstrated that the pull-in behavior of the circular nanoplate was size dependent.

Originality/value

In this study, the results provide a suitable method in a nonclassical circular plate model. The length scale parameter had an obvious effect on the nonlinear behavior of the circular nanoplate.

Citation

Lin, M.-X. and Chen, C.K. (2021), "Investigation of pull-in behavior of circular nanoplate actuator based on the modified couple stress theory", Engineering Computations, Vol. 38 No. 6, pp. 2648-2665. https://doi.org/10.1108/EC-04-2020-0204