Nonparametric identification of a micro-electromechanical resonator

Abstract

This work presents a nonparametric identification method to study the nonlinear response of a micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) resonator. The MEMS resonator is a clamped–clamped microbeam fabricated for out-of-plane motion, which is dominated by the cubic nonlinearity due to mid-plane stretching while actuated by electrostatic forces. Experimental measurements show hardening behavior in the frequency–response of the first symmetric mode of the resonator due to the dominant cubic nonlinearity. Modeling the dynamics of the microbeam using a nonparametric identification method is shown to be very effective in capturing the characteristics of the complex nonlinear system at different electrostatic AC and DC voltages.