Abstract
This chapter presents an introduction to fundamental concepts in nonlinear dynamics, which are essential for modeling and testing the mechanical behavior of MEMS devices. Because nonlinear dynamics is a wide topic, the focus here is on subjects that are most common and relevant to MEMS. Basic analytical techniques to analyze and tackle nonlinear systems are presented. Several applications on MEMS devices demonstrating phenomena at the microscale level are discussed. The aim of this chapter is to give MEMS researchers fundamental background on the subject. This should lead to proper understanding of the behavior of microsystems and enable the development of modeling methodologies that can capture the essence of the static and dynamic aspects of MEMS devices behaving nonlinearly.