Characterization and Modeling of Nonlinearities in In-Plane Gap Closing Elect…

Abstract—This paper investigates in detail a micro scale in-plane gap closing electrostatic energy harvester with strong nonlinearities in squeeze-film damping, electromechanical coupling, and impacts on end-stops. The device shows softening response on increasing the bias voltage and saturation behavior on impact with end-stops at high enough acceleration amplitude. We demonstrate that a lu…