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Abstract

This paper subjects electrostatic curved electrode actuators with novel shaped cantilevers to nonlinear dynamic analysis using the differential quadrature method. Numerical results are compared with experimental results to assess the efficiency and systematic procedure of this novel approach for nonlinear differential equations. The pull-in voltages computed for different structures correlate well with published data. Several characteristics of different combinations of shaped cantilevers and curved electrodes are also examined in this paper. Dynamic responses of actuators with novel shapes with several pull-in voltages are determined. The transitional responses for the derived systems are calculated using the Wilson-θ method.

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