The dynamic behavior of a flexing membrane micro heat engine is presented. The micro heat engine consists of a cavity filled with a saturated, two-phase working fluid bounded on the top by a flexible expander membrane and on the bottom by a stiff evaporator membrane. A lumped parameter model is developed to simulate the dynamic behavior of the micro heat engine. First, the model is validated against experimental data. Then, the model is used to investigate the effect of the duration of the heat addition process, the mass of the expander membrane and the thermal storage or thermal inertia associated with the engine cavity on the dynamic behavior of the micro engine. The results show the optimal duration for the heat addition process to be less than 10% of the engine cycle period. Increasing the mass of the flexible expander membrane is shown to reduce the resonant frequency of the engine to 130 Hz. Operating the engine at resonance leads to increased power output. The thermal storage or thermal inertia associated with the engine cavity is shown to have a strong effect on engine performance.
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