Abstract
To improve the energy harvesting performance of an energy harvester, a novel bistable piezoelectric energy harvester with variable potential well (BPEH-V) is proposed by introducing a spring to the external magnet from a curve-shaped beam bistable harvester (CBH-C). First, finite element simulation was performed in COMSOL software to validate that the curved beam configuration was superior to the straight beam in power generation performance, which benefits energy harvesting. Moreover, the nonlinear magnetic model was obtained by using the magnetic dipoles method, and the nonlinear restoring force model of the curve-shaped beam was acquired based on fitting the experimental data. The corresponding coupled governing equations were derived by using generalized Hamilton’s principle, the dynamic responses were obtained by solving the coupling equations with the ode45 method. Finally, the numerical simulations showed that the proposed harvester can make interwell oscillations easier due to the spring being efficiently introduced to pull down the potential barrier compared with the conventional bistable harvester. Spring stiffness has a great impact on characteristics of the system, and a suitable stiffness contributes to realize large-amplitude interwell oscillations over a wide range of excitation, especially in the low excitation condition.
Highlights
Shan et al [21] designed an elastically connected bistable piezoelectric energy harvester based on the straight beam configuration, where the energy harvester had a variable potential barrier during the vibration process
Li et al [22] carried out theoretical analysis on the elastically connected straight beam piezoelectric energy harvester, and the results showed that the spring-connected bistable piezoelectric energy harvester had a variable potential function and better energy harvesting performance under low-frequency excitation
Kim et al [23] designed a multi-degree of freedom (MDOF) vibration energy harvesting system that leverages magnetically coupled bistable and linear harvesters, where the analytical, numerical, and experimental investigations revealed that the novel harvester could facilitate the energetic interwell response for relatively low excitation amplitudes and frequencies by passively and adaptively lowering the potential energy barrier level
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Shan et al [21] designed an elastically connected bistable piezoelectric energy harvester based on the straight beam configuration, where the energy harvester had a variable potential barrier during the vibration process. Li et al [22] carried out theoretical analysis on the elastically connected straight beam piezoelectric energy harvester, and the results showed that the spring-connected bistable piezoelectric energy harvester had a variable potential function and better energy harvesting performance under low-frequency excitation. Kim et al [23] designed a multi-degree of freedom (MDOF) vibration energy harvesting system that leverages magnetically coupled bistable and linear harvesters, where the analytical, numerical, and experimental investigations revealed that the novel harvester could facilitate the energetic interwell response for relatively low excitation amplitudes and frequencies by passively and adaptively lowering the potential energy barrier level. The optimal design and engineering application of the novel piezoelectric energy harvester
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