Experimental Characterization of a Three-Rod Magnetostrictive Device for Energy Harvesting

Abstract

Energy harvesting allows the conversion of environmental energy into electrical energy to feed low-power consumption electronics. In particular, this method can be exploited to supply wireless sensors nodes for structural health monitoring (SHM) when the electric network source is not present. Indeed, vibrations induced by vehicle traffic on a bridge could be converted into electrical energy, but suitable devices are needed. This paper presents experimental tests over a device based on three Galfenol rods, where electrical and magnetic parameters are changed and tested with different mechanical sources in order to seek the best performance.