Low Frequency Vibration Energy Harvester Using Stopper-Engaged Dynamic Magnifier for Increased Power and Wide Bandwidth
We present a piezoelectric energy harvester with stopper-engaged dynamic magnifier which is capable of significantly increasing the operating bandwidth and the energy (power) harvested from a broad range of low frequency vibrations (<30 Hz). It uses a mass-loaded polymer beam (primary spring-mass system) that works as a dynamic magnifier for another mass-loaded piezoelectric beam (secondary spring-mass system) clamped on primary mass, constituting a two-degree-of-freedom (2-DOF) system. Use of polymer (polycarbonate) as the primary beam allows the harvester not only to respond to low frequency vibrations but also generates high impulsive force while the primary mass engages the base stopper. Upon excitation, the dynamic magnifier causes mechanical impact on the base stopper and transfers a secondary shock (in the form of impulsive force) to the energy harvesting element resulting in an increased strain in it and triggers nonlinear frequency up-conversion mechanism. Therefore, it generates almost four times larger average power and exhibits over 250% wider half-power bandwidth than those of its conventional 2-DOF counterpart (without stopper). Experimental results indicate that the proposed device is highly applicable to vibration energy harvesting in automobiles.