Virginia Tech – Page 2 – TechConnect Briefs

Dynamic Simulations of a Novel RF MEMS Switch

Younis M.I., Abdel-Rahman E.M., Nayfeh A.H., Virginia Tech, US

We present a dynamic analysis of a novel RF MEMS switch utilizing the dynamic pull-in phenomenon. We study this phenomenon and present guidelines about its mechanism. We propose to utilize this phenomenon to design a [...]

A Model for Thermoelastic Damping in Microplates

Nayfeh A.H., Younis M.I., Virginia Tech, US

We present a model and analytical expressions for the quality factors of microplates due to thermoelastic damping. We solve the heat equation for the thermal current across the thickness of a microplate, and hence decouple [...]

Microplate Modeling under Coupled Structural-Fluidic-Electrostatic Forces

Younis M.I., Nayfeh A.H., Virginia Tech, US

We present a model for the dynamic behavior of microplates under the coupled effects of squeeze-film damping, electrostatic actuation, and mechanical forces. The model simulates the dynamics of microplates and predicts their quality factors under [...]

Dynamic Simulation of an Electrostatically Actuated Impact Microactuator

Zhao X., Dankowicz H., Reddy C.K., Nayfeh A.H., Virginia Tech, US

We study the dynamics of an electrostatically driven impact microactuator reported by Mita and associates. The microactuator is modeled as a two-degree-of-freedom rigid multibody system. The impact phenomenon is described by a simple impact law [...]

Electronic Transport in Molecular Devices from First Principles

Di Ventra M., Lang N.D., Pantelides S.T., Virginia Tech, US

We present an overview of recent work by the authors in first-principles calculations of electronic transport in molecules for which experimental results are available. We find that the shape of the current-voltage characteristics is mostly [...]