Energy harvesting analysis of the magneto-electric and fluid-structure interaction parametric excited system

Abstract

This research proposes an innovative design of a fluid-solid coupling vibration energy harvesting system (VEH system) that includes a downstream waterwheel driven by the flow field, which, in turn, drives gears and connecting rods to rotate a wheel equipped with magnets to generate electricity by changing the magnetic field. A piezoelectric patch (PZT) is installed upstream of the pipeline with a magnet attached to it. The repulsive force between the magnet on the wheel and the magnet on the PZT generates additional force while also creating vibration through fluid-solid coupling of the pipeline. The study derives a theoretical model of the nonlinear vibrating beam and couples it with the piezoelectric and magneto-electric equations to simulate the vibration of the fixed-fixed elastic pipe. The method of multiple scales (MOMS), fixed points plots, phase plots, and Poincaré maps are employed to verify the theoretically predicted parametric excitation properties of the system. The study uses the Biot-Savart Law to calculate the theoretical magnetic force and combines it with the fluid-conveying nonlinear beam and the PZT to create a magneto-electric coupling fluid pipeline vibration energy harvesting model. The study conducts a simple experiment to verify the feasibility of the theoretical model and demonstrates that the repulsive force of the magnet significantly enhances the electric generation benefit of the system. Regardless of whether the PZT is located in the curved or flat area (straight part) of the nonlinear beam, the addition of magnets to the system significantly increases voltage generation efficiency by more than 190 % when compared to systems without magnets.