Toward Nonlinear Galloping Energy Harvesting Interfaced With Different Power Extraction Circuits

Abstract

While there has been a surge of study on nonlinear aeroelastic energy harvesting structures for enhanced wind power extraction, there is a gap in the literature on the integration of advanced power conditioning circuits with these mechanically sophisticated nonlinear structures. This article presents an investigation on the influence of different voltage processing interface circuits on the power generation performance in nonlinear galloping energy harvesting. Cubic hardening, cubic softening, and bistable configurations are studied. Their mechanical and electrical responses associated with the simple ac, standard dc, and synchronous charge extraction (SCE) circuits analyzed and compared. Results show that with the ac and standard dc circuits, the bistable and cubic hardening configurations are superior to the cubic softening configuration, generating comparably high power outputs with beneficially small displacements. The SCE circuit significantly boosts the power generation of the two monostable (cubic hardening and softening) harvester designs, but degrades the performance of the bistable design by trapping the oscillation within a single potential well over a large wind speed range. The findings form a baseline for future enhancement in the design of nonlinear aeroelastic wind power generators.