A 3D printed electromagnetic nonlinear vibration energy harvester

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Date
2016-08-24
Authors
Constantinou, Peter
Roy, Saibal
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Publisher
IOP Publishing Ltd
Published Version
10.1088/0964-1726/25/9/095053
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Abstract
A 3D printed electromagnetic vibration energy harvester is presented. The motion of the device is in-plane with the excitation vibrations, and this is enabled through the exploitation of a leaf isosceles trapezoidal flexural pivot topology. This topology is ideally suited for systems requiring restricted out-of-plane motion and benefits from being fabricated monolithically. This is achieved by 3D printing the topology with materials having a low flexural modulus. The presented system has a nonlinear softening spring response, as a result of designed magnetic force interactions. A discussion of fatigue performance is presented and it is suggested that whilst fabricating, the raster of the suspension element is printed perpendicular to the flexural direction and that the experienced stress is as low as possible during operation, to ensure longevity. A demonstrated power of ~25 μW at 0.1 g is achieved and 2.9 mW is demonstrated at 1 g. The corresponding bandwidths reach up-to 4.5 Hz. The system's corresponding power density of ~0.48 mW cm−3 and normalised power integral density of 11.9 kg m−3 (at 1 g) are comparable to other in-plane systems found in the literature.
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Keywords
Vibration energy harvesting , Nonlinear , 3D printing , Electromagnetic , Leaf isosceles trapezoidal flexural pivot
Citation
CONSTANTINOU, P. and ROY, S. (2016) ‘A 3D printed electromagnetic nonlinear vibration energy harvester’, Smart Materials and Structures, 25(9), 095053 (14pp). doi:10.1088/0964-1726/25/9/095053
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https://hdl.handle.net/10468/3225
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Tyndall National Institute - Journal Articles
Copyright
© 2016, IOP Publishing Ltd. This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication in Smart Materials and Structures. The publisher is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at http://stacks.iop.org/0964-1726/25/i=9/a=095053