On the Mechanical Behavior of a Functionally Graded Micro-beam Subjected to a Thermal Moment and Nonlinear Electrostatic Pressure

In the present work, mechanical behavior of a functionally graded cantilever micro-beam subjected to a nonlinear electrostatic pressure and temperature changes has been studied. It has been assumed that the top surface is made of pure metal and the bottom surface from a metal- ceramic mixture. The ceramic constituent percent of the bottom surface varies from 0% to 100%. In addition to the Volume Fractional Rule of material, exponential function has been used for representation of continuous gradation of the material properties through microbeam thickness. Attention being paid to the ceramic constituent percent of the bottom surface, five different types of FGM micro-beams have been investigated. Nonlinear integrodifferential thermo-electro mechanical equation based on Euler-Bernoulli beam theory has been derived and solved using Step-by-Step Linearization Method and Finite Difference Method. The effects of temperature changes and the electrostatic pressure on the deflection and stability of FGM micro-beams having various amounts of the ceramic constituent have been studied and normal stress distributions in the cross section along the beam thickness have been given and compared with a classic metal beam.