Depletion and harvesting thermal energy from actuator arm electronics in hard disk drives

In this paper, a thermal resistance network model is established for calculating arm electronics (AE) chip junction temperature to ambient. The thermal resistance network is based on heat transfer paths from chip to ambient. This network can be used to predict AE chip junction temperature to ambient under thermal managements. The accuracy of the presented model is also proven through comparing the results of numerical calculation and simulation. A piezoelectric micro-thermal energy harvester is designed and placed on top of AE chip. Finite element analysis (FEA) software is used to establish the model of PZT membrane generator and analyze piezoelectric characteristics of PZT membrane. The relationship between average voltage output and electrode size is shown.