Chen, Shao-TuanDu, SijunArroyo, EmmanuelleJia, YuSeshia, Ashwin A.2017-02-282017-02-282016-12-06Chen, S., Du, S., ​Arroyo, E., Jia, Y. & Seshia, A. (2016). Utilising nonlinear air damping as a soft mechanical stopper for MEMS vibration energy harvesting. Journal of Physics Conference Series, 773(1).1742-658810.1088/1742-6596/773/1/012098http://hdl.handle.net/10034/620414This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a published work that appeared in final form in Journal of Physics: Conference Series. To access the final edited and published work see http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/773/1/012098This paper reports on the theory and experimental verification of utilising air damping as a soft stopper mechanism for piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting to enhance shock resistance. Experiments to characterise device responsiveness under various vibration conditions were performed at different air pressure levels, and a dimensionless model was constructed with nonlinear damping terms included to model PVEH response. The relationship between the quadratic damping coefficient ζ n and air pressure is empirically established, and an optimal pressure level is calculated to trade off harvestable energy and device robustness for specific environmental conditions.enhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Energy harvestingArticle1742-6596Journal of Physics: Conference Series