Modeling and analysis of a taper ionic polymer metal composite energy harvester

Advances in the field of new smart materials suggested investigating their capabilities as energy harvesters. Ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) is a relatively new type of smart materials and it belongs to the class of electroactive polymers (EAP). IPMC has already been considered as a potential candidate for energy harvester by several researchers. In this paper, a tapered (in thickness) IPMC energy harvester is considered to investigate the effects of modification of geometric configurations on energy harvesting capabilities. A mathematical model for the tapered IPMC harvester is developed. The energy harvester is analyzed using the proposed mathematical model. Numerical results show that the present harvester configuration can generate a significant amount of power. Moreover, the tapered IPMC energy harvester improves the fatigue life of the harvester as the tapered geometry reduces stress concentration at the fixed point. Therefore, the tapered IPMC energy harvester can be considered for several engineering applications such as wearable sensors, micro-electro-mechanical devices, etc.