Nonlinear Dyn (2008) 54: 1–2 DOI 10.1007/s11071-008-9387-6
Special issue on micro- and nano-electromechanical systems Hartono Sumali · Mohammad I. Younis · Eihab M. Abdel-Rahman
Received: 16 June 2008 / Accepted: 16 June 2008 / Published online: 16 July 2008 © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2008
This issue of Nonlinear Dynamics is devoted to recent advances in the dynamics of micro- and nanoelectromechanical systems (MEMS and NEMS). These systems are composed of micro-machines inherently coupled to electric circuits or embedded on silicon chips. Market research companies quote various numbers for the size of MEMS market and its growth rate. Considering the variation of these numbers among different sources and over time, one is probably well advised to take them with a grain of salt. But there is no doubt that MEMS is now an established, “dynamic,” and growing technology and that NEMS is its natural extension. They are today the dominant technology in many sensor and actuator applications; such as accelerometers, pressure sensors, and projection systems. The dynamics of MEMS and NEMS are rich in nonlinearity. Nonlinear phenomena appear in the properties of materials operating under large environmental variations, in the geometry of structures undergoing large deformations, and in the actuation forces releH. Sumali () Albuquerque, NM, USA e-mail:
[email protected] M.I. Younis Binghamton, NY, USA E.M. Abdel-Rahman Waterloo, ON, Canada
vant at this scale. As MEMS and NEMS applications are multiplying, they are bringing renewed relevance to old problems as well as posing new problems in nonlinear dynamics. In organizing this issue, we did not intend to target one topic within this field. We simply wanted to reflect the breadth of interests in the field. The results of this informal survey are published in this issue; they indicate particular interest in MEMS resonators and inertial sensors and probes for Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). Pandey et al. investigate frequency-locking in selfexcited MEMS disk resonators under direct and parametric external excitations. Dick et al. study mode localization in arrays of coupled MEMS resonators. Vyas et al. report on the response of a MEMS pedal resonator designed to have 1:2 autoparametric resonance between the first flexural mode and the first torsional mode. Lee et al. describe a method to use concepts from multi-body dynamics to model the response of electrostatic MEMS actuators. Asokanthan and Wang study the stability of a vibratory MEMS gyroscope. Braghin et al. compare the viscous damping coefficients of a MEMS gyroscope obtained numerically and experimentally. Hornstein and Gottlieb study the stability boundaries of a tilted probe in noncontact-mode AFM. Allen et al. use cantilever microbeams to model noncontactmode AFM probes and develop a method to experimentally identify the probe restoring force. Yabuno
2
et al. employ nonlinear feedback control to transform the probe of noncontact-mode AFM to a van der Pol oscillator that maintains constant-amplitude oscillations over a wide frequency range. Arafat et al. study 1:2 internal resonance between the second and the third flexural modes of the probe in contact-mode AFM. Finally, Daqaq et al. propose a method to apply input-shaping control to electrostatic MEMS actuators.
H. Sumali et al.
This issue is far from being a complete or a systematic survey of nonlinearity and dynamics in MEMS and NEMS. This is a developing and growing area of research. It will certainly benefit from further efforts to assess the state-of-the-art, to identify the open and pressing issues of the day, and to suggest promising approaches to treat these issues. Guest Editors
