Feasibility and parametric study of a groove-type thermoelectric generator under multiphysics field conditions

In this study, we propose a novel thermoelectric generator (TEG) configuration called the groove-type TEG, which introduces triangular brackets to increase the contact area between thermoelectric semiconductors and conductive strips. Through a thermal-electric-mechanical multiphysics numerical model, the performance of the groove-type TEG under various parameters is evaluated. Our findings reveal that the output power of the groove-type TEG can be effectively improved by increasing the length and height of the grooves, and the total height of the upper and lower grooves should be lower than the height of the thermoelectric semiconductor. Moreover, the groove height ratio and thermoelectric semiconductor height play crucial roles in determining the TEG’s performance and mechanical stability. Considering the allowable thermal stress, the optimal height ratio is 0.125 (or 0.875) when the semiconductor height is less than 1.2 mm (or greater than 1.3 mm). The groove-type TEG reaches the output power and conversion efficiency of 0.84 W and 6.9 %, respectively, at the temperature difference of 200 K and the semiconductor height of 1.3 mm, which are 24.8 % and 0.2 % higher than those of the traditional π-type TEG. This work provides a new approach to enhancing the performance of thermoelectric generators.