Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 November 2013
In this paper, stress distribution of micro cantilever beams in the presence of a dielectric-layer is studied using an analytic method. The Modified Adomian Decomposition Method (MADM) is applied to obtain a semi-analytical solution for a distributed parameter model of the micro cantilever beam. The important parameters for designing and manufacturing micro-actuators such as shear force, bending moment and stress distribution along the cantilevers are computed for different values of the dielectric-layer parameter. The results of MADM are compared with the numerical results, and they found in good agreement. It is found that increase of the dielectric-layer parameter increases the dimensionless pull-in voltage, tip deflection, internal stress and bending moment of the micro cantilever actuators at the onset of pull-in instability.