FGM micro-gripper under electrostatic and intermolecular Van-der Waals forces using modified couple stress theory

In this paper mechanical behavior of the functional gradient materials (FGM) micro-gripper under thermal load and DC voltage is numerically investigated taking into account the effect of intermolecular forces. In contrary to the similar previous works, which have been conducted for homogenous material, here, the FGM material has been implemented. It is assumed that the FGM micro-gripper is made of metal and ceramic and that material properties are changed continuously along the beam thickness according to a given function. The nonlinear governing equations of the static and dynamic deflection of microbeams have been derived using the coupled stress theory. The equations have been solved using the Galerkin based step-by-step linearization method (SSLM). The solution procedure has been evaluated against available data of literature showing good agreement. A parametric study has been conducted, focusing on the combined effects of important parameters included DC voltage, temperature variation, geometrical dimensions and ceramic volume concentration on the dynamic response and stability of the FGM micro-gripper.