Vinod R Challa et al 2008 Smart Mater. Struct. 17 015035 doi:10.1088/0964-1726/17/01/015035
Vinod R Challa, M G Prasad, Yong Shi and Frank T Fisher
Show affiliationsVibration energy harvesting is an attractive technique for potential powering of wireless sensors and low power devices. While the technique can be employed to harvest energy from vibrations and vibrating structures, a general requirement independent of the energy transfer mechanism is that the vibration energy harvesting device operate in resonance at the excitation frequency. Most energy harvesting devices developed to date are single resonance frequency based, and while recent efforts have been made to broaden the frequency range of energy harvesting devices, what is lacking is a robust tunable energy harvesting technique. In this paper, the design and testing of a resonance frequency tunable energy harvesting device using a magnetic force technique is presented. This technique enabled resonance tuning to ± 20% of the untuned resonant frequency. In particular, this magnetic-based approach enables either an increase or decrease in the tuned resonant frequency. A piezoelectric cantilever beam with a natural frequency of 26 Hz is used as the energy harvesting cantilever, which is successfully tuned over a frequency range of 22–32 Hz to enable a continuous power output 240–280 µW over the entire frequency range tested. A theoretical model using variable damping is presented, whose results agree closely with the experimental results. The magnetic force applied for resonance frequency tuning and its effect on damping and load resistance have been experimentally determined.
46.70.De Beams, plates and shells
46.40.Ff Resonance, damping and dynamic stability
85.50.-n Dielectric, ferroelectric, and piezoelectric devices
07.07.Df Sensors (chemical, optical, electrical, movement, gas, etc.); remote sensing
77.84.Dy Niobates, titanates, tantalates, PZT ceramics, etc.
Condensed matter: electrical, magnetic and optical
Issue 1 (February 2008)
Received 22 September 2007, in final form 19 November 2007
Published 8 January 2008
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