Parameter Identification of a Nonlinear Beam Energy Harvester

This paper describes the application of the harmonic balance parameter identification method to beam energy harvesters. The method is applied to weakly nonlinear and nonlinear, bistable fixed-free piezoelectric beams with tip masses. It is shown that only one measurement is required to identify parameters even though the systems are continuous. In addition, an experimental method of determining the number of restoring force coefficients required to accurately model the systems is presented. The harmonic balance parameter identification method is extended to account for multiple concurrent frequencies in order to identify parameters of weakly nonlinear systems. Finally, parameters are identified for two experimental energy harvesters. Good agreement is shown between the experimental data and the identified parameters using simulations and closed form solutions.