Modeling and Simulation of a Nonlinear Energy Harvester under Broadband Vibrations

摘要

Vibration energy harvesting is a concept to convert the mechanical energy contained in vibrations into useable or storable electrical energy. This article focuses on the influence of nonlinearities upon the output of a piezomagnetoelectric vibration energy harvester (VEH) under broadband vibrations. Nonlinear equations of motion that describe the VEH are given along with numerical simulations. Especially, the relationship between the outputs of the VEH and its nonlinearity is derived, which is meaningful for designing the nonlinearity goal-directed. The numerical analysis presents a comparison between the voltage outputs of a linear VEH and a nonlinear one under broadband vibrations. Simulation results show that, compared with the linear VEH, the nonlinear VEH presented in this article has a wider working bandwidth and a lower resonant frequency which indicates the nonlinear VEH has a better performance under broadband vibrations.