| This dissertation explores a two-port electromechanical device coined an “electrodynamic transformer (ET).” An ET is an energy transfer device that consists of two independent electrical coils that are electromechanically coupled to a mechanical oscillator via a static magnetic field. Electrical energy input to the primary coil is converted to mechanical motion via electrodynamic transduction. The mechanical motion is then converted back to electrical energy in the secondary coil.;Lumped element modeling techniques are used to investigate the functional behavior and scaling of the ET. Using these models, the ET is compared with a conventional electromagnetic transformer (EMT) and a piezoelectric transformer (PT). The study shows that the ET can potentially achieve higher power efficiency than an EMT and potentially higher power density, as well as superior noise isolation and better long term reliability than a PT. In addition, the ET has favorable scaling for improved efficiency and power density at the microscale.;The model is experimentally validated with a macroscale ET prototype. A microscale ET is also fabricated and characterized, which shows promising performance. The utility of the ET is also demonstrated in a functional power converter application using the microscale prototype. A compact resonant dc/ac inverter is built that takes advantage of the resonant behavior of the ET. The results show promise for future adoption of ET and encourages continued research in this area. |
