An Equivalent Circuit Model and Energy Extraction Technique of a Magnetostrictive Energy Harvester

Abstract

This paper proposes a distributed parameter equivalent circuit model of a magnetostrictive energy harvester, where the mechanical parameters and the mechanical-electro coupled terms are represented by electronic components. Based on the model, the harvester system with any energy extraction circuit (EEC) can be modeled in a circuit simulator for system-level evaluation and design. Comparisons between the measured and calculated results show that the proposed model can provide reasonable data of the harvester at low acceleration levels, and support the physical understanding of the dynamic behaviors for the harvester. In addition, the harvester system with a self-powered EEC is constructed, and its whole performances are effectively predicted. These prove that the proposed model can analyze and design the harvester system with both complicated mechanical structure and practical EEC, thus has very strong practicability.