Improved analysis of microbeams under mechanical and electrostatic loads

Stretching effects in axially constrained doubly clamped microbeams have been analysed for mechanical and electrostatic loads. A computer code based on the shooting method, a numerical integration procedure, has been developed for calculating the induced tension, deflections and stresses. Analytic solutions for concentrated force, distributed pressure and electrostatic loading were derived and verified by numerical simulation. Typical dimensions for microbeams considered are 200 mu m x 45 mu m x 2 mu m. Various cases have been evaluated, with and without induced tension and/or residual strain. Displacements and stresses are reduced when induced tension is included and are considerably smaller with intrinsic tension.