Ultra-low frequency vibration energy harvesting of piezoelectric vibration systems with an adjustable device

Abstract

Energy harvesting from external Ultra-low frequency vibrations is currently attracting a lot of attention. However, for the same system, it is difficult to satisfy the need for more efficient energy harvesting in a variety of external environments. Accordingly, an adjustable gearing device connected to the energy harvesting system is used herein for adapting energy harvesting to a wide range of external environments. The device uses four symmetrical inclined springs. One end of the springs is connected to a gear and the other end to a mass element. The geometrical parameters of the system can be varied by rotating the gears, thus varying the dynamic stiffness of the system. The kinetic equations of the system are derived and their nonlinear terms are Taylor-expanded. The amplitude-frequency response curve of the system is obtained by solving using the harmonic balance method. Multi-color plots of RMS values of induced voltage and electric power are obtained using the fourth-order Runge-Kutta method. The results show that the device has excellent adjustable performance. Adjusting the rotation angle of the gears can change the soft and hard characteristics of the system's dynamic stiffness and the intrinsic frequency, thus improving the system's energy harvesting performance in different environments.

Keywords

• Adjustable gearing
• Harmonic balance method
• Low frequency vibration
• RMS value
• Energy harvesting