A new energy harvester using a piezoelectric and suspension electromagnetic mechanism

This study presents a new design of a piezoelectric-electromagnetic energy harvester to enlarge the frequency bandwidth and obtain a larger energy output.This harvester consists of a primary piezoelectric energy harvesting device,in which a suspension electromagnetic component is added.A coupling mathematical model of the two independent energy harvesting techniques was established.Numerical results show that the piezoelectric-electromagnetic energy harvester has three times the bandwidth and higher power output in comparison with the corresponding stand-alone,single harvesting mode devices.The finite element models of the piezoelectric and electromagnetic systems were developed,respectively.A finite element analysis was performed.Experiments were carried out to verify the validity of the numerical simulation and the finite element results.It shows that the power output and the peak frequency obtained from the numerical analysis and the finite element simulation are in good agreement with the experimental results.This study provides a promising method to broaden the frequency bandwidth and increase the energy harvesting power output for energy harvesters.

一种两自由度的压电-电磁复合能量收集器(英文)

研究目的:对一种两自由度的压电-电磁复合能量收集器进行发电性能研究。创新要点:建立了一种两自由度压电-电磁复合能量收集器发电性能的数学模型,该数学模型可以评估两自由度压电-电磁复合能量收集器中压电元件、电磁元件以及系统总输出功率。研究方法:对一种两自由度的压电-电磁复合能量收集器进行数学建模,并实验验证数学模型的正确性。基于实验测试得到的系统参数值,理论研究压电元件和电磁元件的机电耦合系数对不同能量收集器发电性能的影响关系,并对几种能量收集器的发电能力进行对比分析。重要结论:对于非强耦合(弱或中间耦合)的两自由度机电转换器,复合能量收集器(压电+电磁)具有比单一能量收集器(压电或电磁)更高的发电能力。

An energy harvester combining a piezoelectric cantilever and a single degree of freedom elastic system

This paper presents a type of vibration energy harvester combining a piezoelectric cantilever and a single degree of freedom (SDOF) elastic system. The main function of the additional SDOF elastic system is to magnify vibration displacement of the piezoelectric cantilever to improve the power output. A mathematical model of the energy harvester is developed based on Hamilton's principle and Rayleigh-Ritz method. Furthermore, the effects of the structural parameters of the SDOF elastic system on the electromechanical outputs of the energy harvester are analyzed numerically. The accuracy of the output performance in the numerical solution is identified from the finite element method (FEM). A good agreement is found between the numerical results and FEM results. The results show that the power output can be increased and the frequency bandwidth can be improved when the SDOF elastic system has a larger lumped mass and a smaller damping ratio. The numerical results also indicate that a matching load resistance under the short circuit resonance condition can obtain a higher current output, and so is more suitable for application to the piezoelectric energy harvester.

A simple approach for determining the preload of a wire race ball bearing

Wire race ball bearings have been widely used in high-tech weapons. The preload of a wire race ball bearing is crucial in engineering applications. In this study, a more effective approach is proposed for exact determination of the wire race ball bearing preload. A new mathematical model of the preload and the starting torque of the wire race ball bearing was built using the theorem of the 3D rolling friction resistance and the non-conforming contact theory. Employing a wire race ball bearing with a 1000 mm diameter used in a specific type of aircraft simulating rotary table, the numerical analysis in MATLAB～ showed that the preload magnitude can be controlled in the range of 130–140 μm. As verification, the experimental results were in agreement with the theoretical results, and confirm the feasibility of this method. This new approach is more exact in the preload range of 10–158 μm than that computed by the numerical method reported in our previous work (Shan et al., 2007b). This implies that the present method contributes to more effectively preventing rolling noise, overturning moments and wear of the wire race ball bearing. The current research provides critical technical support for the engineering application of wire race ball bearings with large diameters.