Tapered curved-beam hinges for electret-based vibration energy harvesting devices

Abstract

Interest in vibration energy harvesting have been growing recently for various applications. One of the major development goals for vibration energy harvesters has been improvement in energy conversion efficiency. To pursue that goal, one of the main approaches has been to broaden the spectra of harvesters. Employment of nonlinear springs, such as curved-beam hinges, has proven to be effective for that purpose. The main contribution of the current study is to introduce a lateral taper to the curved beam so as to further optimize the harvester performances. Via numerical analysis by using stochastic differential equations, the study shows that at 0.05g of vibration strength, tapered curved-beam hinges can result in higher electric power output than the non-tapered ones. Deformation-induced stress was taken into consideration as well, in reference to the fracture strength of the material (single-crystal silicon). At lower vibration strength (0.02g), spring nonlinearity becomes weaker, and as a result, the narrowest curved-beam hinge produces the highest output power. Overall, the current study demonstrates that tapering of the curved beam can be a useful addition in the vibration energy harvester design.