Impact-driven, frequency up-converting coupled vibration energy harvesting device for low frequency operation

Abstract

This paper presents experiments and models of an energy harvesting device in which a low frequency resonator impacts a high frequency energy harvesting resonator, resulting in energy harvesting predominantly at the system's coupled vibration frequency. Analysis shows that a reduced mechanical damping ratio during coupled vibration enables increased electrical power generation as compared with conventional technology. Experiments demonstrate that the efficiency of electrical power transfer is significantly improved with the coupled vibration approach. An average power output of 0.43 mW is achieved under 0.4g acceleration at 8.2 Hz, corresponding to a power density of 25.5 µW cm − 3. The measured power and power density at the resonant frequency are respectively 4.8 times and 13 times the measured peak values for a conventional harvester created from a low frequency beam alone.