An infrasonic vibration energy harvester using pendulum impact

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Cui, Xiaobin^a | Hu, Junhui^{a; *}

Affiliations: [a] State Key Lab of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding author: Junhui Hu, State Key Lab of Mechanics and Control of Mechanical Structures, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Nanjing 210016, Jiangsu, China. E-mail: ejhhu@nuaa.edu.cn

Abstract: This paper presents experiments and finite element (FE) analyses of an infrasonic vibration energy harvesting device in which a low-frequency pendulum impacts a cantilever beam type energy harvester. The experiments demonstrate that the energy harvester operates in the frequency range of 2∼8 Hz and has output power of several microwatts under 0.1 g excitation acceleration. Moreover, a finite element model with a coupling of impact, vibration, piezoelectricity and circuit is established and used to analyze the output voltage and power. The frequency response characteristics at different pendulum lengths and the distances between the pendulum ball and cantilever beams are measured and calculated, respectively. Useful guidelines for designing the energy harvester are obtained.

Keywords: Infrasonic vibration, energy harvester, pendulum, FEM simulation

DOI: 10.3233/JAE-140068

Journal: International Journal of Applied Electromagnetics and Mechanics, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 467-474, 2015