Field Test and Characteristic Analysis of Railroad Track Vibration Energy Harvester

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianyong Zuo ◽  
Jie Yu ◽  
Cheng Liu ◽  
Yihao Gu ◽  
Lei Zuo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Vibrational Energy ◽  
Railway Track ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Resistive Load ◽  
Characteristic Analysis ◽  
Peak Voltage ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Energy Harvesting System

Abstract Railroad vibration energy harvester has been researched and developed to harness the energy from the vibration of railway track when the trains pass. The vibrational energy could be transformed into electrical energy using mechanical motion rectification (MMR) mechanism and then further be used to power trackside equipment including sensors and some smart electrical devices. In order to test the performance of the MMR railroad energy harvesting system, a series of infield tests were conducted with a self-developed distributed measurement system in Railroad Test Lab at Tongji University. A 10V peak voltage was achieved with 8 Ohms external resistive load at the train speed of 30 km/h, which was consistent with the result of in-lab bench tests. In addition, some experience of design and installation for the motioned based energy harvesting system was gained, which can provide some references for the future improvement of railroad energy harvesting systems.

Simply supported FPEDs connected by springs for broadband energy harvesting

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 201-210
Author(s):  
Yoshikazu Tanaka ◽  
Satoru Odake ◽  
Jun Miyake ◽  
Hidemi Mutsuda ◽  
Atanas A. Popov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Evaluation Method ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Vibrational Energy ◽  
Functional Materials ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Theoretical Evaluation ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Polyvinylidene Difluoride ◽  
Simply Supported

Energy harvesting methods that use functional materials have attracted interest because they can take advantage of an abundant but underutilized energy source. Most vibration energy harvester designs operate most effectively around their resonant frequency. However, in practice, the frequency band for ambient vibrational energy is typically broad. The development of technologies for broadband energy harvesting is therefore desirable. The authors previously proposed an energy harvester, called a flexible piezoelectric device (FPED), that consists of a piezoelectric film (polyvinylidene difluoride) and a soft material, such as silicon rubber or polyethylene terephthalate. The authors also proposed a system based on FPEDs for broadband energy harvesting. The system consisted of cantilevered FPEDs, with each FPED connected via a spring. Simply supported FPEDs also have potential for broadband energy harvesting, and here, a theoretical evaluation method is proposed for such a system. Experiments are conducted to validate the derived model.

On Mathematical Modeling of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters

2014 ◽  
Vol 953-954 ◽  
pp. 655-658 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guang Qing Shang ◽  
Hong Bing Wang ◽  
Chun Hua Sun
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Modeling ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Piezoelectric Energy ◽  
Energy Harvesting System ◽  
Piezoelectric Vibration

Energy harvesting system has become one of important areas of ​​research and develops rapidly. How to improve the performance of the piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is a key issue in engineering applications. There are many literature on piezoelectric energy harvesting. The paper places focus on summarizing these literature of mathematical modeling of piezoelectric energy harvesting, ranging from the linear to nonlinear, from early a single mechanical degree to piezoaeroelastic problems.

scholarly journals Vibration Energy Harvester Based on Torsionally Oscillating Magnet

Micromachines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1545
Author(s):  
Xinyi Wang ◽  
Jiaxing Li ◽  
Chenyuan Zhou ◽  
Kai Tao ◽  
Dayong Qiao ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Proof Mass ◽  
Vibrational Energy ◽  
Open Circuit ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Peak Voltage ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Cantilever Structure ◽  
Sinusoidal Excitation

Most of the miniaturized electromagnetic vibrational energy harvesters (EVEHs) are based on oscillating proof mass suspended by several springs or a cantilever structure. Such structural feature limits the miniaturization of the device’s footprint. This paper presents an EVEH device based on a torsional vibrating magnet over a stack of flexible planar coils. The torsional movement of the magnet is enabled by microfabricated silicon torsional springs, which effectively reduce the footprint of the device. With a size of 1 cm × 1 cm × 1.08 cm, the proposed EVEH is capable of generating an open-circuit peak-to-peak voltage of 169 mV and a power of 6.9 μW, under a sinusoidal excitation of ±0.5 g (g = 9.8 m/s2) and frequency of 96 Hz. At elevated acceleration levels, the maximum peak-to-peak output voltage is 222 mV under the acceleration of 7 g (±3.5 g).

Development of a tunable low-frequency vibration energy harvester and its application to a self-contained wireless fatigue crack detection sensor

2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 920-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suyoung Yang ◽  
Sung-Youb Jung ◽  
Kiyoung Kim ◽  
Peipei Liu ◽  
Sangmin Lee ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Crack ◽  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Crack Detection ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Low Frequency Vibration ◽  
Resonance Frequencies ◽  
Energy Harvesting System ◽  
Fatigue Crack Detection

In this study, a tunable electromagnetic energy harvesting system, consisting of an energy harvester and energy harvesting circuits, is developed for harnessing energy from low-frequency vibration (below 10 Hz) of a bridge, and the harvesting system is integrated with a wireless fatigue crack detection sensor. The uniqueness of the proposed energy harvesting system includes that (1) the resonance frequencies of the proposed energy harvester can be readily tuned to the resonance frequencies of a host structure, (2) an improved energy harvesting efficiency compared to other electromagnetic energy harvesters is achieved in low-frequency and vibration, and (3) high-efficiency energy harvesting circuits for rectification are developed. Furthermore, the developed energy harvesting system is integrated with an on-site wireless sensor deployed on Yeongjong Grand Bridge in South Korea for online fatigue crack detection. To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the very first study where a series of low-frequency vibration energy harvesting, rectification, and battery charging processes are demonstrated under a real field condition. The field test conducted on Yeongjong Grand Bridge, where fatigue cracks have become of a great concern, shows that the proposed energy harvester can generate a peak voltage of 2.27 V and a root mean square voltage of 0.21 V from 0.18-m/s2 root mean square acceleration at 3.05 Hz. It is estimated the proposed energy harvesting system can harness around 67.90 J for 3 weeks and an average power of 37.42 µW. The battery life of the wireless sensor is expected to extend from 1.5 to 2.2 years. The proposed energy harvesting circuits, composed of the AC–DC and boost-up converters, exhibit up to 50% battery charging efficiency when the voltage generated by the proposed energy harvester is 200 mV or higher. The proposed boost-up converter has a 100 times wider input power range than a conventional boost-up converter with a similar efficiency.

Energy Harvesting Performance of Vertically Staggered Rectangle-Through-Holes Cantilever in Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester

2020 ◽  
Vol 142 (10) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shan Gao ◽  
Hongrui Ao ◽  
Hongyuan Jiang
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Integrated Circuits ◽  
Resonant Frequency ◽  
Power Density ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Cantilevered Beam ◽  
Piezoelectric Vibration

Abstract Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting technology has attracted significant attention for its applications in integrated circuits, microelectronic devices, and wireless sensors due to high power density, easy integration, simple configuration, and other outstanding features. Among piezoelectric vibration energy harvesting structures, the cantilevered beam is one of the simplest and most commonly used structures. In this work, a vertically staggered rectangle-through-holes (VS-RTH) cantilevered model is proposed, which focuses on the multi-directional vibration collection. To verify the output performance of the device, this paper employs basic materials and fabrication methods with mathematical modeling. The simulations are conducted through finite element methods to discuss the properties of VS-RTH energy harvester on resonant frequency and output characteristics. Besides, an energy storage circuit is adopted as a collection system. It can achieve a maximum voltage of 4.5 V which is responded to the harmonic vibrating input of 1 N force and 1 m/s2 in a single vibrating direction. Moreover, the power density is 2.596 W/cm3 with a 100 kΩ resistor. It is almost four times better than the output of unidirectional cantilever beam with similar resonant frequency and volume. According to the more functionality in the applications, VS-RTH energy harvester can be used in general vibration acquisition of machines and vehicles. Except for electricity storage, the harvester can potentially employ as a sensor to monitor the diversified physical signals for smooth operation and emergence reports. Looking forward, the VS-RTH harvester renders an effective approach toward decomposing the vibration directions in the environment for further complicating vibration applications.

Design and Analysis of a Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester Using Rolling Mechanism

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Xiang Zou ◽  
Wen-Ming Zhang ◽  
Ke-Xiang Wei ◽  
Wen-Bo Li ◽  
Zhi-Ke Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Rolling Force ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Resistive Load ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Rolling Mechanism ◽  
Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Piezoelectric Vibration

In this paper, a novel piezoelectric vibration energy harvester using rolling mechanism is presented, with the advantage of harvesting more vibration energy and reducing the impact forces caused by the oscillation. The design utilizes an array arrangement of balls rolling the piezoelectric units, and a piezoelectric unit consists of a piezoceramic (PZT) layer and two raised metal layers bonded to both sides of the PZT layer. The rolling mechanism converts the irregular reciprocating vibration into the regular unidirectional rolling motion, which can generate high and relatively stable rolling force applied to the piezoelectric units. A theoretical model is developed to characterize the rolling mechanism of a ball rolling on a piezoelectric unit. And based on the model, the effects of structural design parameters on the performances of the vibration energy harvester are analyzed. The experimental results show that the rolling-based vibration energy harvester under random vibration can generate stable amplitude direct current (DC) voltage, which can be stored more conveniently than the alternating current (AC) voltage. The experimental results also demonstrate that the vibration energy harvester can generate the power about 1.5 μW at resistive load 3.3 MΩ while the maximal rolling force is about 6.5 N. Due to the function of mechanical motion rectification and compact structure, the rolling mechanism can be suitable for integrating into a variety of devices, harvesting energy from uncertain vibration source and supplying electric energy to some devices requiring specific voltage value.

Optimal Coil Transducer Geometry for an Electromagnetic Nonlinear Vibration Energy Harvester

2013 ◽  
Vol 558 ◽  
pp. 477-488
Author(s):  
Luke A. Vandewater ◽  
Scott D. Moss ◽  
Steve C. Galea
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Model ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Ball Bearing ◽  
Outer Radius ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Resistive Load ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Numeric Model ◽  
Wire Coil

This paper investigates the optimisation of wire-coil transducers for a recently described strongly nonlinear electromagnetic (EM) vibration energy harvester, by coupling previously derived dynamics of the mechanical system with finite element analysis (FEA) to determine the harvesters EM response. The harvester is implemented in a permanent-magnet/ball-bearing arrangement, where vibrations in a host structure induce oscillations of the ball-bearing. The movement of the bearing changes the magnetic flux in a circular pancake wire-coil, inducing an electromotive force (EMF) in the coil and hence a voltage in the harvester circuit. A quintic-modified Duffing equation is applied to predict frequency-displacement relations for the nonlinear dynamics of the harvester. Faradays Law of Induction is implemented with quasi-static FEA modelling of the magnetic field and linked to the dynamics of the system to develop a numeric model for voltage predictions. The issue of back-EMF and damping is also investigated. A fully integrated mechanical-electromagnetic model is shown to compare well to the quasi-static numerical model. The output characteristics of the prototype harvester are then compared with the numerical model. An optimal coil height of 2 mm is predicted, and demonstrated experimentally to produce 20.3 mW from a 12 Hz, 500 milli-g host vibration. Further investigation of coil inner radius and outer radius yields a predicted resistive load power transfer increase of 18% with the optimal coil geometry.

Energy Harvesting From Controlled Buckling of a Horizontal Piezoelectric Beam

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. H. Ansari ◽  
M. Amin Karami
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Design Parameters ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Axial Deformation ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Mechanical Coupling ◽  
Horizontal Beam ◽  
Piezoelectric Beam ◽  
Piezoelectric Vibration

A piezoelectric vibration energy harvester is designed to generate electricity under the weight of passing crowds. The piezoelectric beam buckles to a controlled extent when the device is stepped on. The device is a seven bar mechanism. The upper and lower bars as well as the lateral links are rigid. The middle horizontal beam is a bimorph piezoelectric beam. Damages to the piezoelectric beam are avoided by constraining its axial deformation. This constrain is implemented by limiting squeezing of the mechanism. When a person moves over the mechanism or steps off the devices it causes the bimorph to buckle or return to the unbuckled condition. The transitions result in vibrations of the piezoelectric beam and thus generate energy. In this paper, the energy harvester is analytically modeled. The electro-mechanical coupling and the geometric nonlinearities have been included in the model for the piezoelectric beam. The design criteria for the device are discussed. It is demonstrated that the device can be realized with commonly used piezoelectric patches and can generate hundreds of milliwatts of power. A three part beam is also investigated. The effect of design parameters on the generated power and required tolerances are illustrated. The proposed device could be implemented in the sidewalks producing energy from the weight of people passing over it. Other possible applications are portable smart phones chargers and shoe hill energy harvesting. Dance floor of a club is another applicable example for using this harvester. The main advantage of using horizontal configuration instead of a vertical arrangement is the ease of placement in the pavements.

A Compressive-Mode Wideband Vibration Energy Harvester Using a Combination of Bistable and Flextensional Mechanisms

2016 ◽  
Vol 83 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong-Xiang Zou ◽  
Wen-Ming Zhang ◽  
Ke-Xiang Wei ◽  
Wen-Bo Li ◽  
Zhi-Ke Peng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Magnetic Pressure ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Piezoelectric Constant ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Resistive Load ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Compressive Mode

In this paper, a compressive-mode wideband vibration energy harvester using a combination of bistable and flextensional mechanisms is proposed. The structure consists of a cantilever with a magnet fixed at its free end, and a flextensional actuator with a magnet fixed at its free end. A theoretical model is developed to characterize the compressive-mode wideband vibration energy harvester. Both simulations and experiments are carried out to validate the design and analysis of the compressive-mode wideband vibration energy harvester. The results show that the device can work in broadband, and the piezoelectric constant d31 can be enlarged 134 times. The experimental results also indicate that the harvester can generate the power about 31 μW with the resistive load 390 kΩ, while the magnetic pressure is 2.9 N. A developed design including two flextensional actuators symmetrically arranged is also presented. The experimental results show that the two flextensional actuators in the developed design can harvest more energy than one flextensional actuator in the primal design.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document