Open AccessEnhanced low-frequency vibration energy harvesting with inertial amplifiers
Author(s) -
Sondipon Adhikari,
Arnab Banerjee
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of intelligent material systems and structures
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.646
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1530-8138
pISSN - 1045-389X
DOI - 10.1177/1045389x211032281
Subject(s) - energy harvesting , amplifier , broadband , vibration , context (archaeology) , harmonic , inertial frame of reference , power (physics) , piezoelectricity , acoustics , electrical engineering , engineering , electronic engineering , physics , telecommunications , paleontology , cmos , quantum mechanics , biology
Piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters have demonstrated the potential for sustainable energy generation from diverse ambient sources in the context of low-powered micro-scale systems. However, challenges remain concerning harvesting more power from low-frequency input excitations and broadband random excitations. To address this, here we propose a purely mechanical approach by employing inertial amplifiers with cantilever piezoelectric vibration energy harvesters. The proposed mechanism can achieve inertial amplification amounting to orders of magnitude under certain conditions. Harmonic, as well as broadband random excitations, are considered. Two types of harvesting circuits, namely, without and with an inductor, have been employed. We explicitly demonstrate how different parameters describing the inertial amplifiers should be optimally tuned to maximise harvested power under different types of excitations and circuit configurations. It is possible to harvest five times more power at a 50% lower frequency when the ambient excitation is harmonic. Under random broadband ambient excitations, it is possible to harvest 10 times more power with optimally selected parameters.