Wideband Piezomagnetoelastic Vibration Energy Harvesting

Abstract

This work presents a small-scale wideband piezomagnetoelastic vibration energy harvester (VEH) aimed for operation at frequencies of a few hundred Hz. The VEH consists of a tape-casted PZT cantilever with thin sheets of iron foil attached on each side of the free tip. The wideband operation is achieved by placing the cantilever in a magnetic field induced by either one or two magnets located oppositely of the cantilever. The attraction force created by the magnetic field and iron foils introduces a mechanical force in opposite direction of the cantilevers restoring force causing a spring softening effect. In linear operation (without magnets) the harvester generates a RMS power of 141 μW/g2 at 588 Hz with a relative bandwidth of 3.8% over a 100 kΩ load resistor. When operated with one magnet ideally positioned opposite the cantilever, a RMS power of 265 μW/g2 is generated at 270 Hz with a relative bandwidth of 25%.