A finite element approach for flexoelectric nonuniform nanobeam energy harvesters

In this work, we present a finite element (FE) approach for analyzing flexoelectric beam energy harvesters with nonuniform cross-section. A two nodes finite element model with 10 degrees of freedom is proposed and Hermite polynomials are adopted to satisfy the higher order continuity requirement of the electric potential and displacement due to flexoelectricity. The proposed model can also be simplified to investigate a flexoelectric actuator, for which analytical solutions are obtained and thus can be used to validate the proposed FE method. Results indicate the performance of flexoelectric energy harvesters with nonuniform cross-section can exceed that of rectangular ones.

Automated summary

This work presents a finite element approach for analyzing flexoelectric beam energy harvesters with nonuniform cross-sections. A two-node finite element model with 10 degrees of freedom is proposed, using Hermite polynomials to satisfy the higher order continuity requirement. The proposed method is validated using analytical solutions for a flexoelectric actuator. Results show that energy harvesters with nonuniform cross-sections outperform rectangular ones.