On the efficiency of thermal engines with power output: Harmonically driven engines

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Abstract
In a previous article we defined and studied a model of a heat engine with the purpose of emphasizing the role of inertial effects, particularly their importance in relation to optimization problems. Here we pursue our argument on this issue by comparing the performance of models of heat engines harmonically driven around a state of equilibrium. For the first model, with inertia, we define the model, calculate its nonlinear response with emphasis on the linear approximation, and discuss the issues related to the coupling of the thermal and mechanical driving forces. We study the influence of increasing values of the mechanical friction coefficient, and show that when this coefficient is small the work output displays subharmonic resonances that disappear when the friction coefficient increases. In the second model, without inertial effects, no such resonances appear as expected, since these are due only to the inertial terms.