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.

Research on robust control strategy of single DOF supporting system of MLDSB based on H∞ mixed-sensitivity Method

Because of hydraulic-electromagnetic double supporting forms,the supporting capacity and stiffness of magnetic-liquid double suspension bearing(MLDSB)can be improved sharply and then it is more suitable for medium speed,heavy load and frequent-starting occasions.Due to the multiple uncertainty,such as the coupling,the unmodeled dynamics,the parameter perturbation and the external disturbance perturbation,the robust stability and stiffness of control system of MLDSB are hard to meet the design requirements.Firstly,the structural features and the regulation mechanisms of MLDSB are presented and the radial 4-DOF kinetic equations are established.Secondly,the influence factors of the control system's coupling on unbalanced vibration caused by the deviation of the rotor center of mass are revealed,and then the weighting function of suppressing the unbalanced vibration can be obtained.Finally,H∞ controller of MLDSB is designed with H∞ mixed-sensitivity method,and the control performances of H∞ controller is compared with the state feedback controller.The simulation results show that single degree of freedom(DOF)supporting system of MLDSB with H∞ controller has good robust stability,stiffness and the ability to suppress unbalanced external disturbances.This study can provide the theoretical reference for stabilized suspension and control of MLDSB.

Pressure-impulse diagram with multiple failure modes of one-way reinforced concrete slab under blast loading using SDOF method

Two loosely coupled single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems were used to model the flexural and direct shear responses of one-way reinforced concrete slabs subjected to explosive loading. Blast test results show that the SDOF systems are accurate in predicting the failure mode of the slab under blast loads by incorporating the effects of the strain rate effect caused by rapid load application. Based on different damage criteria, pressure-impulse (P-I) diagrams of the two failure modes were analyzed with the SDOF systems. The effects of span length, concrete strength, and reinforcement ratio of the slab on the P-I diagram were also investigated. Results indicate that a slab tends to fail in direct shear mode when it is of a smaller span length and tends to fail in flexure mode when it is of a larger span length. With the increase of the concrete strength or reinforced ratio, both the flexure and shear capacity increase. Based on numerical results, a simplified method and a semi analytical equation for deriving the P-I diagram are proposed for different failure modes and damage levels.

Dynamics of Sea Ice and Spectrum of Ice Force

Spectrum and self-excite characters are the two significant characters of the dynamics of sea ice. The spectrum character of sea ice is mainly shown by the spectrum of ice force. The spectrum character of the sea ice is its intrinsic attributes. When the spectrum of ice force from the dynamic response of ice and structure interaction are evaluated, the effect of dynamic character of the structure must be eliminated. In this paper, the ice force spectrum at Bohai Bay and Liaodong Bay is evaluated from the displacement and strain responses of a single degree and a multi-degree freedom structure. The evaluated ice force spectrum can be used to define the spectrum character of ice in the analysis of ice induced vibration.