Frequency band widening technique for cantilever-based vibration energy harvesters through dynamics of fluid motion

• Main Authors: Mayuri D. Dhone, Poonam G. Gawatre, Suresh S. Balpande
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: KeAi Communications Co., Ltd. 2018-06-01
• Series: Materials Science for Energy Technologies
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589299118300193

Vibration energy harvesting has evoked great interests for a wide variety of self-powered microsystems. Vibration energy harvesters typically have a narrow bandwidth, which causes infeasibility for real-life applications. This issue has been addressed by incorporating frequency band widening technique with the help of fluid filled tip mass. It is based on the principle of center of gravity shifts due to the mass change caused by the dynamic motion of the fluid. This concept has been validated through simulations and experimentation carried out for piezoelectric patches from MIDE™, MEAS™ and our fabricated device. Performance evaluation of piezoelectric energy harvester has been carried with solid, and fluid filled tip mass. Open circuit electric potential of 7.4 V with 10 Hz bandwidth has been recorded for fluid (honey-motor oil mixture) tip mass in contrast with 4 Hz bandwidth for solid tip mass. It is found that fluid-filled tip mass has broadened frequency band by 250% without affecting harvested power. Keywords: Dynamics of fluid motion, Fluid-filled tipmass, Polymer substrate, Vibration energy harvesting