Material Damping Analysis of Triangular Cantilever Beam for Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvesting Applications †

Triangular cantilever beams are often desired in piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting applications, as they result in a better performance due to the higher and more uniform stress they exhibit. However, the application of this cantilever geometry has not yet been explored for other transduction methods. In this study, the application of a triangular cantilever beam for a cantilevered electromagnetic vibration energy harvester was examined by analyzing its material damping and comparing it to a regular rectangular beam. The material damping of the harvester was predicted through finite element analysis using the critically damped stress method. Under the same beam volume or beam length, the triangular cantilever beam exhibited an approximately 7.1% lower material damping when compared to a rectangular cantilever beam. Further analysis shows that the triangular beam can also deliver a 21.7% higher power output than the rectangular beam.