Modeling pull-in instability of CNT nanotweezers under electrostatic and van der Waals attractions based on the nonlocal theory of elasticity

This work investigates the electromechanical response and pull-in instability of an electrostatically-actuated CNT tweezer taking into consideration a TPNL constitutive behavior of the CNTs as well as the intermolecular forces, both of which provide a significant contribution at the nanoscale. The nonlocal response of the material introduces two additional parameters in the formulation, which are effective in capturing the size effects observed at the nanoscale. The problem is governed by a nonlinear integrodifferential equation, which can be reduced to a sixth-order nonlinear ODE with two additional boundary conditions accounting for the nonlocal effects near to the CNT edges. A simplified model of the device is proposed based on the assumption of a linear or parabolic distribution of the loading acting on the CNTs. This assumption allows us to formulate the problem in terms of a linear ODE subject to two-point boundary conditions, which can be solved analytically. The results are interesting for MEMS and NEMS design. They show that strong coupling occurs between the intermolecular forces and the characteristic material lengths as smaller structure sizes are considered. Considering the influence of the nonlocal constitutive behavior and intermolecular forces in CNT tweezers will equip these devices with reliability and functional sensitivity, as required for modern engineering applications.