Investigation of Vibration Energy Harvesting Using Two Cantilevers With Random Input

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Yang ◽  
Panagiotis Alevras ◽  
Shahrzad Towfighian
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Duffing Oscillator ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Potential Energy Function ◽  
Excitation Level ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Random Input ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Low Performance

There is a growing interest to convert ambient mechanical energy to electrical energy by vibration energy harvesters. Realistic vibrations are random and spread over a large frequency range. Most energy harvesters are linear with narrow frequency bandwidth and show low performance, which led to creation of nonlinear harvesters that have larger bandwidth. This article presents a simulation study of a nonlinear energy harvester that contains two cantilever beams coupled by magnetic force. One of the cantilever beam is covered partially by piezoelectric material, while the other beam is normal to the first one and is used to create a variable potential energy function. The variable double-well potential function enables optimum conversion of the kinetic energy and thus larger output. The system is modeled by coupled Duffing oscillator equations. To represent the ambient vibrations, the response to Gaussian random input signal (generated by Shinozuka formula) is studied using power spectral density. The effects of different parameters on the system are also investigated. The results show that the double cantilever harvester has a threshold distance, where the harvester can perform optimally regardless of the excitation level. This observation is opposite to that of the conventional fixed magnet cantilever system where the optimal distance varies with the excitation level. Results of this study can be used to enhance energy efficiency of vibration energy harvesters.

scholarly journals Nonlinear H-Shaped Springs to Improve Efficiency of Vibration Energy Harvesters

2013 ◽  
Vol 80 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastien Boisseau ◽  
Ghislain Despesse ◽  
Bouhadjar Ahmed Seddik
Keyword(s):  
Output Power ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Resonance Phenomenon ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Nonlinear Springs ◽  
Working Frequency ◽  
Nonlinear Devices ◽  
Mass Spring

Vibration energy harvesting is an emerging technology aimed at turning mechanical energy from vibrations into electricity to power the microsystems of the future. Most current vibration energy harvesters (VEH) are based on a mass-spring structure: this introduces a resonance phenomenon that enables an increase of VEH output power (compared to nonresonant systems); however, the working frequency bandwidth is limited. Therefore, these devices are not able to harvest energy when ambient vibrations’ frequencies shift. To solve this problem and to increase the frequency band where power can be harvested, one solution consists in using nonlinear springs. This paper introduces H-shaped nonlinear springs, their model, and their benefits to improve VEH output powers. Simulations on real vibration sources show that the output power can be higher in nonlinear devices (up to +48%) compared to linear systems.

scholarly journals A review on vibration energy harvesting

2021 ◽  
Vol 245 ◽  
pp. 01041
Author(s):  
Liu Na ◽  
Wan Yuhao ◽  
Han Huanqing ◽  
Liu Tongshuo
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Microelectromechanical Systems ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Mechanical Vibration ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Capture ◽  
Future Direction

Vibration energy capture devices can convert the mechanical energy from ambient source into electrical energy. The captured electrical energy can provide energy for low-power devices such as microelectromechanical systems(MEMS) as a supplement to the power system. Vibration energy has been widely concerned by researchers because of the characteristics of easy access and green. The conversion of mechanical vibration energy into electrical energy can be achieved by electromagnetic, electrostatic, piezoelectric, magnetostrictive, dielectric elastomer and emerging friction nano-types. This paper have discussioned some parts of the vibration energy harvesting: collection principle, collection method and the energy storage circuit. At present, the research and design of mechanical vibration energy harvesting structures focus on three aspects: broadening the collection frequency band, collecting dimensions and improving efficiency. Finally, the future direction of energy harvesting research is predicted.

scholarly journals Design of a prototype generator based on piezoelectric power generation for vibration energy harvesting

2017 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lumbumba Taty-Etienne Nyamayoka ◽  
Gloria Adedayo Adewumi ◽  
Freddie Liswaniso Inambao
Keyword(s):  
Cantilever Beam ◽  
Power Output ◽  
Piezoelectric Materials ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Ceramic Plate ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Developing Area ◽  
Tip Mass

The concept of harvesting energy in the ambient environment arouses great interest because of the demand for wireless sensing devices and low-power electronics without external power supply. Harvesting energy by vibration with piezoelectric materials can be used to convert mechanical energy into electrical energy that can be stored and used to power other devices. This conversion of vibrations (mechanical energy) to electrical energy using piezoelectric materials is an exciting and rapidly developing area of research with a widening range of applications constantly materialising. In this context, the goal of this paper is to develop a comprehensive prototype generator that can harvest vibration energy and convert it to electrical energy by providing the output power for optimisation and its performance. Two setups of prototype are used: a cantilever beam with tip mass at the end, and a cantilever beam without tip mass at the end. Data from the experiment is compared and analysed using MatLab. The results show that the power output of the prototype with the tip mass is greater than the power output without the tip mass. The experimental results led to a power optimisation from that prototype by different characteristic of piezoelectric ceramic plate.

scholarly journals Dynamics of Transition Regime in Bistable Vibration Energy Harvesters

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alwathiqbellah Ibrahim ◽  
Shahrzad Towfighian ◽  
Mohammad I. Younis
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Mechanical Energy ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Battery Life ◽  
Transition Regime ◽  
Frequency Bandwidth ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Improved Model

Vibration energy harvesting can be an effective method for scavenging wasted mechanical energy for use by wireless sensors that have limited battery life. Two major goals in designing energy harvesters are enhancing the power scavenged at low frequency and improving efficiency by increasing the frequency bandwidth. To achieve these goals, we derived a magnetoelastic beam operated at the transition between mono- and bi-stable regions. By improving the mathematical model of the interaction of magnetic force and beam dynamics, we obtained a precise prediction of natural frequencies as the distance of magnets varies. Using the shooting technique for the improved model, we present a fundamental understanding of interesting combined softening and hardening responses that happen at the transition between the two regimes. The transition regime is proposed as the optimal region for energy conversion in terms of frequency bandwidth and output voltage. Using this technique, low-frequency vibration energy harvesting at around 17 Hz was possible. The theoretical results were in good agreement with the experimental results. The target application is to power wildlife biologging devices from bird flights that have consistent high power density around 16 Hz (Shafer et al., 2015, “The Case for Energy Harvesting on Wildlife in Flight,” Smart Mater. Struct., 24(2), p. 025031).

scholarly journals Real world assessment of an auto-parametric electromagnetic vibration energy harvester

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1481-1499 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu Jia ◽  
Jize Yan ◽  
Sijun Du ◽  
Tao Feng ◽  
Paul Fidler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parametric Resonance ◽  
Real World ◽  
Average Power ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Wireless Sensor ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Sinusoidal Input ◽  
Micro Electromechanical System

The convention within the field of vibration energy harvesting has revolved around designing resonators with natural frequencies that match single fixed frequency sinusoidal input. However, real world vibrations can be random, multi-frequency, broadband and time-varying in nature. Building upon previous work on auto-parametric resonance, this fundamentally different resonant approach can harness vibration from multiple axes and has the potential to achieve higher power density as well as wider frequency bandwidth. This article presents the power response of a packaged auto-parametric VEH prototype (practical operational volume of ∼126 cm−3) towards various real world vibration sources including vibration of a bridge, a compressor motor as well as an automobile. At auto-parametric resonance (driven at 23.5 Hz and 1 g rms), the prototype can output a peak of 78.9 mW and 4.5 Hz of −3dB bandwidth. Furthermore, up to ∼1 mW of average power output was observed from the harvester on the Forth Road Bridge. The harvested electrical energy from various real world sources were used to power up a power conditioning circuit, a wireless sensor mote, a micro-electromechanical system accelerometer and other low-power sensors. This demonstrates the concept of self-sustaining vibration powered wireless sensor systems in real world scenarios, to potentially realise maintenance-free autonomous structural health and condition monitoring.

Modelling of Mechanical Nonlinearity in an Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvester Using a Forced Duffing Equation

2012 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. D. Moss ◽  
L. A. Vandewater ◽  
S. C. Galea
Keyword(s):  
Output Power ◽  
Energy Harvester ◽  
Duffing Oscillator ◽  
Maximum Output Power ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Maximum Output ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Homotopy Analysis ◽  
Wire Coil

This work reports on the modelling and experimental validation of a bi-axial vibration energy harvesting approach that uses a permanent-magnet/ball-bearing arrangement and a wire-coil transducer. The harvester’s behaviour is modelled using a forced Duffing oscillator, and the primary first order steady state resonant solutions are found using the homotopy analysis method (or HAM). Solutions found are shown to compare well with measured bearing displacements and harvested output power, and are used to predict the wideband frequency response of this type of vibration energy harvester. A prototype harvesting arrangement produced a maximum output power of 12.9 mW from a 12 Hz, 500 milli-g (or 4.9 m/s2) rms excitation.

scholarly journals Analysis of Double Elastic Steel Wind Driven Magneto-Electric Vibration Energy Harvesting System

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (21) ◽  
pp. 7364
Author(s):  
Yi-Ren Wang ◽  
Ming-Ching Chu
Keyword(s):  
Energy Harvesting ◽  
Electric Energy ◽  
Elastic Beam ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Concentrated Load ◽  
Single Beam ◽  
Piezoelectric Patch ◽  
Energy Harvesting System

This research proposes an energy harvesting system that collects the downward airflow from a helicopter or a multi-axis unmanned rotary-wing aircraft and uses this wind force to drive the magnet to rotate, generating repulsive force, which causes the double elastic steel system to slap each other and vibrate periodically in order to generate more electricity than the traditional energy harvesting system. The design concept of the vibration mechanism in this study is to allow the elastic steel carrying the magnet to slap another elastic steel carrying the piezoelectric patch to form a set of double elastic steel vibration energy harvesting (DES VEH) systems. The theoretical DES VEH mechanism of this research is composed of a pair of cantilever beams, with magnets attached to the free end of one beam, and PZT attached to the other beam. This study analyzes the single beam system first. The MOMS method is applied to analyze the frequency response of this nonlinear system theoretically, then combines the piezoelectric patch and the magneto-electric coupling device with this nonlinear elastic beam to analyze the benefits of the system’s converted electrical energy. In the theoretical study of the DES VEH system, the slapping force between the two elastic beams was considered as a concentrated load on each of the beams. Furthermore, both SES and DES VEH systems are studied and correlated. Finally, the experimental data and theoretical results are compared to verify the feasibility and correctness of the theory. It is proven that this DES VEH system can not only obtain the electric energy from the traditional SES VEH system but also obtain the extra electric energy of the steel vibration subjected to the slapping force, which generates optimal power to the greatest extent.

scholarly journals Enhanced low-frequency vibration energy harvesting with inertial amplifiers

2021 ◽  
pp. 1045389X2110322
Author(s):  
Sondipon Adhikari ◽  
Arnab Banerjee
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Micro Scale ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Low Frequency Vibration ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Mechanical Approach ◽  
Ambient Excitation ◽  
Piezoelectric Vibration

Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters have demonstrated the potential for sustainable energy generation from diverse ambient sources in the context of low-powered micro-scale systems. However, challenges remain concerning harvesting more power from low-frequency input excitations and broadband random excitations. To address this, here we propose a purely mechanical approach by employing inertial amplifiers with cantilever piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters. The proposed mechanism can achieve inertial amplification amounting to orders of magnitude under certain conditions. Harmonic, as well as broadband random excitations, are considered. Two types of harvesting circuits, namely, without and with an inductor, have been employed. We explicitly demonstrate how different parameters describing the inertial amplifiers should be optimally tuned to maximise harvested power under different types of excitations and circuit configurations. It is possible to harvest five times more power at a 50% lower frequency when the ambient excitation is harmonic. Under random broadband ambient excitations, it is possible to harvest 10 times more power with optimally selected parameters.

Transfer Function Modeling of Distributed Piezoelectric Vibration Energy Harvesters

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin An Tan ◽  
Heather L. Lai
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Function ◽  
Transfer Functions ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
System Response ◽  
Distributed Parameter ◽  
Domain Modeling ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Energy Harvesters ◽  
Adjoint Systems ◽  
The Stability

Extensive research has been conducted on vibration energy harvesting utilizing a distributed piezoelectric beam structure. A fundamental issue in the design of these harvesters is the understanding of the response of the beam to arbitrary external excitations (boundary excitations in most models). The modal analysis method has been the primary tool for evaluating the system response. However, a change in the model boundary conditions requires a reevaluation of the eigenfunctions in the series and information of higher-order dynamics may be lost in the truncation. In this paper, a frequency domain modeling approach based in the system transfer functions is proposed. The transfer function of a distributed parameter system contains all of the information required to predict the system spectrum, the system response under any initial and external disturbances, and the stability of the system response. The methodology proposed in this paper is valid for both self-adjoint and non-self-adjoint systems, and is useful for numerical computer coding and energy harvester design investigations. Examples will be discussed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this approach for designs of vibration energy harvesters.

Vibration Energy Harvesting to Power Ultrasonic Sensors in Heavy Haul Railway Cars

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Auteliano A. Santos ◽  
Matheus V. Lopes ◽  
Vanessa Gonçalves ◽  
Jony J. Eckert ◽  
Thiago S. Martins
Keyword(s):  
Economic Value ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Electrical Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvesting ◽  
Vibration Energy Harvester ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Suitable Alternative ◽  
Heavy Haul ◽  
Heavy Haul Trains

Long heavy-haul trains are now a reality, especially for ore transportation. In some railways, compositions of up to 330 wagons are in service, requiring several locomotives. Trains like that travel long distances, sometimes through cities or in uninhabited regions. They are driven by just one driver which must keep the whole train working safely on the track. The wagons don’t have any source of electrical energy to power sensors and to transmit their signals to the locomotive; nor wireless communication. In fact, in some of these railways, there is no internet along with the track out of the cities. One important indicator of the safety of the train is the force between the wagons during the trip, through the shunting. Using strain gauges to measure these forces is a possible solution and ultrasonic stress sensors (UST) is a suitable alternative. UST with Lcr waves requires a low amount of energy and can be employed in rusty and dirty places. However, they also need an energy source. Wind and solar solutions are not always adequate because, unfortunately, there are places where these components have economic value and they can be stolen. A possible source of energy to power the USTs could be the Vibration Energy Harvester (VEH). These simple and not expensive systems can be built in small packs, giving the energy to measure the forces and transmit the data to the locomotive or designated sites along the track. This work aims to evaluate the possibility of using VEH to power USTs to measure the forces between the wagons during the journey. Knowing that the oscillation in the shunting has a very low frequency, the work intent to optimize a multi-beam VEH to be able to capture the highest amount of energy possible, in a very small arrangement, using genetic algorithm. The result shows that VEH is an adequate alternative to power autonomous UST sensors.

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