Influence of Damping on the Dynamical Behavior of the Electrostatic Parallel-plate and Torsional Actuators with Intermolecular Forces

The influence of damping on the dynamical behavior of the electrostatic parallel-plate and torsional actuators with the van der Waals (vdW) or Casimir force (torque) is presented. The values of the pull-in parameters and the number of the equilibrium points do not change whether there is damping or not. The ability of equilibrium points is varied with the appearance of damping. One equilibrium point is an unstable saddle with a different damping coefficient, the other equilibrium point is a stable node when the damping coefficient is greater than some critical value, and otherwise it is a stable focus. Then there are two heteroclinic orbits passing from the unstable saddle point to the stable node or focus.