An Introduction to Electrostatic

Actuator

a Device Overview and a
Specific Applications
Prepared By: Eng. Ashraf Al-Shalalfeh
Mechanical Engineering Dept.
Faculty Of Engineering & Tech.
University Of Jordan
It stands for: Micro-Electro-Mechanical
Systems.

It is an integration of elements,
sensors, actuators, and electronics on
a common silicon substrate.

Micro-fabrication technology, for
making microscopic devices.

What Is The Actuator ?
The actuator is an element
which applies a force to some
object through a distance
Various actuation mechanisms:
Electrostatic actuation
Thermal actuation
Piezoelectric actuation
Magnetic actuation
Electrostatic Actuation:
d
wl
d
A
C
r o r o
c c
o
c c
o = =
2
2
1
V
x
A
F
c
=
2
2
1
V
x
A
F
c
=
A voltage is applied between metal
plates to induce opposite charges and
Coulomb attraction
plate each of Area A
Force F
ce dis seperation d
m F space free of ty permittivi
t cons dielectric relative
factor field dringing
Where
o
r
:
:
tan :
]) / [ 10 85 . 8 ( :
tan :
:
;
12
c
c
o
2 2
2 2
1
V
d
wl
CV W
r o
c oc
= =
Electrostatic Energy & Force:
Electrostatic Energy :
Electrostatic Force :
2
2 1
4
1
x
q q
F
r o
c tc
=
Coulombs Law: Force
between two point charges
2
2
2z
wlV
z
W
F
z
co
=
c
c
=
Electrostatic Actuators Types:
Force Normal to Plate :
Force Parallel to Plate
d
wV
y
W
F
y
2
2
co
=
c
c
=
Why Comb Drive Micro Actuator ?
Force doesnt drops rapidly when
increasing gap
Fringing
Curves
Electrostic Micro-actuator consists of many fingers
that are actuated by applying a voltage.

The thickness of the fingers is small in comparison
to their lengths and widths.

The attractive forces are mainly due to the fringing
fields rather than the parallel plate fields.
Electrostatic Actuation Mechanism:
Stationary
Comb
Moving Comb
Anchors
Ground Plate
Folded Beam
(Movable Comb
Suspension)
Comb Drive Micro Actuator Parts:
Comb Drive Micro Actuator Video:
Sorry Video is too big to upload to
net
Electrostatic actuators Advantages:
Low power dissipation.

Can be designed to dissipate no
power while exerting a force.

High power density at micro scale.

Easy to fabricate.

d
x L t
N C
o
comb
) ( +
=
c
Electrostatic force in comb-drive actuator
N
d
tV V C
x x
W
F
o comb
comb
|
|
.
|

\
|
=
|
|
.
|

\
|
c
c
=
c
c
=
2 2
2 2
c
Fingers of Number N :
Scaling
Challenges for Actuators
Noise & Efficiency
Nonlinearity
Range of force, motion and frequency
Repeatability
Model Description
x
L
EI
F
3
12
=
Small deflection
large deflection
3
3 1
x k x k F + =
) 1 ( ) , ( ) (
2
2
x t F x F
dt
dx
c
dt
x d
m
e r
= + +
ANALYSIS:
Where:
x: is displacement.
m: is mass.
c: is damping.
1-D motion of the device can be described by the
following equation:
3
3 1
) ( x k x k x F
r
+ =
Where:

k
1
: linear stiffness.
k
3
:

cubic stiffness.
Considering nonlinearity, the recovery force can
be expressed as:
When voltage signal being applied on comb drive
fingers, Fe is:
( ) t A t F
e
e cos ) ( =
the equation can be rewritten as a harmonic
oscillator with normalizing:
( ) t A x k x k
dt
dx
c
dt
x d
m e cos
3
3 1
2
2
= + + +
Substituting Fe and Fr in equation (1) :
) cos(
3
1
2
2
t P x x
dt
dx
dt
x d
e c o o = + + +
m
k
m
k
m
c
Where
3
1
1
, , ; = = = c o o
Sub-Harmonic Resonance, Its Stability, Bifurcation
And Transition to chaos
Case Study target ?
A dynamic system operating at high rotational
speed may undergo a sub-critical loss of
stability which leads to violent and destruction
sub-harmonic vibrations.
Why the 1/3 sub-harmonic resonance?
What is the sub-harmonic resonance?
3 / 1
The harmonic component whose frequency is

is called an order sub-harmonic
3 / O
Solution Approaches:
1. Method Of Multiple Scales (MMS)
2. 2 Mode Harmonic Balance
Method (2MHB)
3. Chaos Diagnostic Tools:
Phase Plane Plot
Poincare Maps
Frequency Spectrum
Method Of Multiple Scales (MMS)
Why the (MMS)?
The Method Of Multiple Scales (MMS), is one
of the most commonly used procedure for
analyzing various resonances in nonlinear
systems.
Where fast and slow time scales are defined
respectively by:
t T =
0
1 , > = n t T
n
n
c
1 0 ) cos(
3
1
< < O = + + + c cc co co t P x x x x

In terms of these time scales, the time derivatives
become :
( ) ... 2 2
...
2
1 2
2
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
+ + + + =
+ + + =
D D D D D D
dt
d
D D D
dt
d
o o o
o
c c
c c
n
n
T
D
c
c
=
Where;
assumes a power series expansion for the dependent
variable x :
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
2 1 2
2
2 1 1 2 1
, , , , , , , T T T x T T T x T T T x t x
o o o o
c c c + + =
a detuning parameter is give by: o
co e + O = =
2 2
9
1
1
Harmonic Balance Method (2MHB)
( ) ( )
|
.
|

\
|
O
+
|
.
|

\
|
O
+ O =
3
sin
3
cos cos
3 / 1 3 / 1 1
t
B
t
A t A t x
A two modes harmonic approximation to the
steady state 1/3 sub-harmonic resonance
response of the above oscillator takes the form:

SIMULATION
RESULTS
. 0 ) 0 ( , 1 ) 0 ( , 4 , 14 , 1 . 0 , 1 . 0 , 0 , 1
. ' : ) ( : ) (
: ) ( : ) ( : : ) 2 ( .
2 1
= = = O = = = = = u u P
map Poincare d plot plane Phase c
transform Fourier b solution series Time a solution Numerical Fig
o c c c
. 0 ) 0 ( , 1 ) 0 ( , 4 , 14 , 1 . 0 , 1 . 0 , 1
. ' : ) ( : ) (
: ) ( : ) ( : : ) 1 ( .
1
= = = O = = = = u u P
map Poincare d plot plane Phase c
transform Fourier b solution series Time a solution Numerical Fig
o c c

. 0 ) 0 ( , 5 ) 0 ( , 4 , 14 , 1 . 0 , 1 . 0 , 1
. ' : ) ( : ) (
: ) ( : ) ( : : ) 2 ( .
1
= = = O = = = = u u P
map Poincare d plot plane Phase c
transform Fourier b solution series Time a solution Numerical Fig
o c c
. 0 ) 0 ( , 5 ) 0 ( , 4 , 4 , 02 . 0 , 1 . 0 , 1
. ' : ) ( : ) (
: ) ( : ) ( : : ) 3 ( .
1
= = = O = = = = u u P
map Poincare d plot plane Phase c
transform Fourier b solution series Time a solution Numerical Fig
o c c
. 0 ) 0 ( , 5 ) 0 ( , 4 , 8 , 02 . 0 , 1 . 0 , 1
. ' : ) ( : ) (
: ) ( : ) ( : : ) 4 ( .
1
= = = O = = = = u u P
map Poincare d plot plane Phase c
transform Fourier b solution series Time a solution Numerical Fig
o c c
. 3 , 01 . 0 , 2 . 0 , 1
. : .) ( , : ) ( : ) ( : ) 5 ( .
1
= = = =

P
curve Stability solution MMS results MMS e Approximat Fig
o c c
. 5 , 01 . 0 , 02 . 0 , 1
). 2 )( ( : .) (
, 2 : ) ( : 2 : ) 6 ( .
1
1
= = = =

P
solution MHB A amplitude l Fundamenta
solution MHB solution MHB e Approximat Fig
o c c
. 5 , 01 . 0 , 2 . 0 , 1
). 2 )( ( : .) ( , : (*)
, : (.) , 2 : ) ( : 2 , : ) 7 ( .
1
1
= = = =


P
MHB A amplitude l Fundamenta solution Numerical
solution MMS solution MHB solution Numerical and MHB MMS Fig
o c c
. 5 ) 0 ( , 6 ) 0 ( , 1 , 100 , 01 . 0 , 2 . 0 , 1
: ) (
: ) ( : ) ( : : ) 8 ( .
1
= = = O = = = = u u P
plot plane Phase c
transform Fourier b solution series Time a solution Numerical Fig
o c c