Abstract
This work deals with the nonlinear dynamics of a microelectromechanical system constituted by an imperfect microbeam under an axial load and an electric excitation. The device is characterized by a bistable static configuration. We analyze the single-mode dynamics and describe the overall scenario of the response, up to the inevitable escape, when both the frequency and the electrodynamic voltage are considered as driving parameters. We observe the presence of several competing attractors leading to a considerable versatility of behavior, which may have many feasible applications. Extensive numerical simulations are performed. The frequency-dynamic voltage behavior chart is obtained, which detects the theoretical boundaries of appearance and disappearance of the main attractors. Taking into account the erosion of the double well, we investigate the final response when each attractor vanishes. All these results represent the limit when disturbances are absent, which never occurs in practice. To extend them to the practical case where disturbances exist, we develop a dynamical integrity analysis. This is performed via curves of constant percentage of local integrity measure, which give quantitative information about the changes in the structural safety. For each attractor, we examine both the practical disappearance, by analyzing the robustness of its basin along the range of existence, and the practical final response, by detecting where safe jump to another attractor may be ensured and where instead dynamic pull-in may arise. These curves may be used to establish safety factors in order to operate the device according to the desired outcome, depending on the expected disturbances.