Enhancement of synchronization bandwidth in an arch beam

Synchronization in microstructures has been widely investigated because of its rich dynamics and promising applications. Most investigations are devoted to revealing the basic features or enhancing the application performance in oscillator with hardening nonlinearity. However, few theoretical and experimental studies have been conducted on synchronization with softening nonlinearity, which easily occurs in imperfect manufacturing. In this paper, we built up a phase feedback loop with an arch beam that exhibits softening effect subjected to a synchronization perturbation. Theoretical analysis and experimental verification are applied to explore the effects of the feedback phase delay and nonlinearity on the synchronization bandwidth. The optimal phase delay for best synchronization bandwidth is determined and the significant enhancement of nonlinearity on the synchronization bandwidth is observed. An practical approach of manipulating the nonlinearity strength is proposed by tuning the ratio of the applied ac voltage V_AC to DC voltage V_DC. The presented foundings provide novel strategies to enhance the synchronization bandwidth in nonlinear oscillator with softening effects.