Energy harvesting characteristics in metamaterials based on bistable lattices

Abstract

In this study, an energy harvesting strategy that utilizes the input-independent, invariant transition waves in periodic lattices of bistable elements is explored. We observe that oscillatory tails are induced in a discrete array as transition waves propagate along the lattice. The generated tail at each unit cell vibrates predominantly at a single frequency, which indicates that the tail energy can be efficiently harvested through resonant transduction mechanisms. We introduce inertially and elastically equivalent lattice models to study the discreteness effect of the bistable lattice on the characteristic behaviors of the oscillatory tails and observe that the energy harvesting potential from transition waves can be significantly increased with growing discreteness.