Materials for energy harvesting with a nonlinear energy sink: A literature review

Abstract

A Nonlinear Energy Sink (NES) having essential nonlinear stiffness, it is nonlinearly attached to a primary system. In contrast to Tuned Mass Damper, the NES could be capable over a wider frequency range and only require a small additional mass. NES have good potential for vibration mitigation and energy harvesting. One of the most common energy sources in an environment is ambient vibration. Some micro electro-mechanical system with magnetostrictive or piezoelectric materials is used to convert ambient vibration into electrical energy. That can be stored and used to power other devices such as wireless sensors, health monitoring sensors or replacing small batteries that have a finite lifespan or would require difficult and expensive maintenance. This study focuses on materials for energy harvesting with NES. Piezoelectric materials have a good capability to convert the mechanical vibration energy into electrical energy and vice versa; therefore, they are more suitable for energy harvesting with NES. A state of the art review of the piezoelectric material frequently used in NES coupled energy harvester with their relative merit is presented.