A new energy harvester using a piezoelectric and suspension electromagnetic mechanism

Abstract

This study presents a new design of a piezoelectric-electromagnetic energy harvester to enlarge the frequency bandwidth and obtain a larger energy output. This harvester consists of a primary piezoelectric energy harvesting device, in which a suspension electromagnetic component is added. A coupling mathematical model of the two independent energy harvesting techniques was established. Numerical results show that the piezoelectric-electromagnetic energy harvester has three times the bandwidth and higher power output in comparison with the corresponding stand-alone, single harvesting mode devices. The finite element models of the piezoelectric and electromagnetic systems were developed, respectively. A finite element analysis was performed. Experiments were carried out to verify the validity of the numerical simulation and the finite element results. It shows that the power output and the peak frequency obtained from the numerical analysis and the finite element simulation are in good agreement with the experimental results. This study provides a promising method to broaden the frequency bandwidth and increase the energy harvesting power output for energy harvesters. © 2013 Zhejiang University and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.