Design and experimental study of a velocity amplified electromagnetic vibration energy harvester

Jackson A. Klein; Lei Zuo

doi:10.1117/12.2260142

11 April 2017 Design and experimental study of a velocity amplified electromagnetic vibration energy harvester

Jackson A. Klein, Lei Zuo

Proceedings Volume 10164, Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2017; 101642O (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2260142
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2017, Portland, Oregon, United States

Abstract

Dedicated sensors are widely used throughout many industries to monitor everyday operations, maintain safety and report performance characteristics. In order to adopt a more sustainable solution, intensive research is being conducted for self-powered sensing. To enable sensors to power themselves, harvesting energy from environmental vibration has been widely studied, however, its overall effectiveness remains questionable due to small vibration amplitudes and thus limited harvestable energy density. This paper addresses the issue by proposing a novel vibration energy harvester in which a metal compliant mechanism frame is used to house both a linear electromagnetic generator and proof mass. Due to the compliant mechanism, the proposed energy harvester is capable of amplifying machine vibration velocity for a dedicated electromagnetic generator, largely increasing the energy density. The harvester prototype is also fabricated and experimentally characterized to verify its effectiveness. When operating at its natural frequency in a low base amplitude, 0.001 in (25.4μm) at 19.4 Hz, during lab tests, the harvester has been shown to produce up to 0.91 V AC open voltage, and a maximum power of 2 mW, amplifying the relative proof mass velocity by approximately 5.4 times. In addition, a mathematical model is created based on the pseudo-rigid-body dynamics and the analysis matches closely with experiments. The proposed harvester was designed using vibration data from nuclear power plants. Further steps for improving such a design are given for broader applications.

Citation Download Citation

Jackson A. Klein and Lei Zuo "Design and experimental study of a velocity amplified electromagnetic vibration energy harvester", Proc. SPIE 10164, Active and Passive Smart Structures and Integrated Systems 2017, 101642O (11 April 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2260142

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