@article{(Open Science Index):https://publications.waset.org/pdf/10004080, title = {Nonlinear Structural Behavior of Micro- and Nano-Actuators Using the Galerkin Discretization Technique}, author = {Hassen M. Ouakad}, country = {}, institution = {}, abstract = {In this paper, the influence of van der Waals, as well as electrostatic forces on the structural behavior of MEMS and NEMS actuators, has been investigated using of a Euler-Bernoulli beam continuous model. In the proposed nonlinear model, the electrostatic fringing-fields and the mid-plane stretching (geometric nonlinearity) effects have been considered. The nonlinear integro-differential equation governing the static structural behavior of the actuator has been derived. An original Galerkin-based reduced-order model has been developed to avoid problems arising from the nonlinearities in the differential equation. The obtained reduced-order model equations have been solved numerically using the Newton-Raphson method. The basic design parameters such as the pull-in parameters (voltage and deflection at pull-in), as well as the detachment length due to the van der Waals force of some investigated micro- and nano-actuators have been calculated. The obtained numerical results have been compared with some other existing methods (finite-elements method and finite-difference method) and the comparison showed good agreement among all assumed numerical techniques. }, journal = {International Journal of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering}, volume = {10}, number = {4}, year = {2016}, pages = {666 - 672}, ee = {https://publications.waset.org/pdf/10004080}, url = {https://publications.waset.org/vol/112}, bibsource = {https://publications.waset.org/}, issn = {eISSN: 1307-6892}, publisher = {World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology}, index = {Open Science Index 112, 2016}, }